As spring arrives, Melrose Arch Mammography, the practice its patients simply call MAMI, wants women across Johannesburg to understand that booking a breast check at its Melrose Boulevard rooms buys them more than one test. Everyone who comes through the door receives both a mammogram and a breast ultrasound within the same visit, and the same radiologist reads both, precisely because the strengths of one test cover the blind spots of the other.
The team regards mammography as the gold standard for breast cancer screening, yet it is candid about the one weakness of that method: dense breast tissue can conceal small cancers on a mammogram. Ultrasound sees straight through such tissue. Instead of pushing the second scan onto a later date or sending patients elsewhere, MAMI runs it for everyone as standard practice. From the patient’s point of view that translates into a single visit, one complete set of images, and a single radiologist who has viewed all of it.
There are good reasons to slot that appointment into September. As the awareness drives of the year’s last quarter kick off, screening rooms nationwide fill up, so a booking placed now generally lands at a more convenient time than one squeezed in during the year end rush. And for anyone who has allowed a year or two to pass since her last check, a fresh season is as good a nudge as any.
What happens in the appointment
Mammograms at MAMI are captured on 3D equipment that uses tomosynthesis, assembling a detailed view of the breast from a stack of thin image slices. According to the practice, this current generation of machinery emits a very low radiation dose, safe enough for yearly imaging, and the scan itself is over quickly.
Mammogram compression today is considerably gentler than it was on the old analogue units, which, the practice says, means the examination causes no pain and poses no threat to breast tissue or implants. Because the scan is so fast, any discomfort passes in moments. Women who steered clear of screening based on a memory of an appointment from years back frequently find the modern experience nothing like they expected.
The ultrasound that comes next is carried out by the radiologist, not passed to a technician, so whoever reads the images is also the one guiding the probe. MAMI relies on ultra high frequency probes and adds high resolution imaging, harmonics, doppler and elastography to the toolkit. In patients younger than 35, whose tissue tends to be denser, ultrasound serves as the main test instead of mammography.
Anyone who has felt a lump, spotted an unexplained change, or just wants an initial look rather than a complete screening programme can arrange a Breast Examination and discuss it with the team before anything further is set up. Whether the visit is routine screening or a response to something a woman has noticed herself, the practice treats it the same way.
When a biopsy is the next step
Imaging can flag an area of the breast that looks out of the ordinary, but it cannot tell you by itself what that area actually is. MAMI is plain about this in its own material: while mammograms and ultrasounds are excellent at spotting abnormalities, only a biopsy can confirm or rule out a cancer, and only a biopsy sample allows a pathologist to determine which type of cancer is involved.
Biopsies happen right inside the mammography department, guided either by ultrasound or stereotactically. With ultrasound guidance, the radiologist follows the area on screen and positions the needle to match. Stereotactic guidance pinpoints the area through the mammogram machine. The majority of ultrasound guided procedures rely on a core needle, a slim hollow needle fired repeatedly into the target area, whereas stereotactic procedures usually employ a vacuum assisted device that collects a somewhat larger sample. In every case a tiny metallic clip is left behind to mark the spot for later imaging.
Local anaesthetic is applied throughout the procedure. The practice reports that beyond the anaesthetic injection there is no pain, that the whole thing runs about 20 to 30 minutes, and that patients head home afterwards. A little bruising is to be expected and tends to clear up within roughly a week. Results generally come back inside two to three days, something that means a great deal to anyone anxiously awaiting them.
Accreditation and the team behind the images
MAMI represents the new identity of Parklane Women’s Imaging Centre, bringing the same staff, the same radiologists and the same equipment across into a bigger, more accessible department at Melrose Arch. Parklane held the distinction of being the first internationally accredited breast imaging unit on the African continent.
The American College of Radiology has granted the unit accreditation for mammography, stereotactic biopsy, breast ultrasound and breast MRI, and has named it a Breast Imaging Centre of Excellence. According to the practice, it is the only unit in South Africa holding that centre of excellence accreditation and the first anywhere in Africa to earn it. This sort of accreditation speaks to process and quality control rather than guaranteeing any particular result, which is exactly why it is worth raising when you decide where to have your scan done.
Dr Peter Schoub, a diagnostic radiologist and the managing director of the practice, qualified as a doctor in 1998 and completed his radiology training in 2007. Breast radiology has been his focus for over 15 years, he holds the European Diploma of Breast Imaging conferred in 2018, and he serves as an honorary lecturer in the Radiology Department at the University of the Witwatersrand.
The unit is not a standalone operation. It sits within a multidisciplinary breast cancer team drawing on breast surgeons, reconstructive surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and radiologists. When a patient is diagnosed at MAMI, she is sent straight to that team, which assesses her case and advises on treatment. Throughout treatment the imaging unit stays involved, supporting staging, localisation, chemotherapy monitoring and follow up, so a patient never finds herself starting over with an unfamiliar set of faces.
Medical aid, cost and booking
Money is among the most frequent reasons a screening appointment gets pushed back, and that decision often rests on a guess rather than an actual enquiry. MAMI notes that the majority of medical aids cover mammograms through screening benefits instead of medical savings, and this holds true even for members on a basic hospital plan. Patients are encouraged to call the rooms with their medical aid number so cover can be confirmed, or to request a cash price if they are paying themselves.
Bookings go through 011 484 3149 or [email protected], and the practice also fields enquiries via WhatsApp from its website. General queries can be sent to [email protected]. The rooms occupy the first floor at 10 Melrose Boulevard in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, with parking and access the practice deliberately set up to be simpler than a hospital radiology department.
What else the practice offers
Breast imaging may be at the heart of what MAMI does, but it is far from the full picture. The practice is the only one in the country to offer cryoablation for breast lesions. It also carries out bone density and body composition scans and provides scar management massage for patients healing after surgery. Beyond the clinical work, it runs Wellness Within, a collection of programmes, podcasts and modules addressing topics like nutrition, the connection between mind and body, and life following a diagnosis.
That breadth reflects a view of breast health reaching well beyond scan day. The appointment fills a single morning, but recovery, follow up and the everyday work of staying well stretch on much longer, and a practice that holds onto its own patients through those phases usually understands their history better than one that meets them just once.
Why the annual interval matters
Advice on when screening ought to begin differs from one country and organisation to the next. MAMI’s own position is that yearly imaging from age 40 gives the best chance of catching something early. Its reasoning leans practical rather than promotional: although breast cancer peaks in incidence between 55 and 60, the practice is noticing a rising trend among younger women, and cancers in younger patients are more prone to being aggressive and fast growing. Women in their 40s also commonly have denser breast tissue, exactly the situation in which the paired ultrasound proves its worth.
A second case for sticking to an annual pattern also exists. Consistent imaging enables the radiologist to hold this year’s pictures up against last year’s, and frequently it is that side by side comparison, rather than any lone image, that exposes a subtle shift in breast tissue worth a closer look. A once off scan carries no baseline to measure against.
Complete information about the practice, its services and its accreditations can be found on the MAMI website at https://mammogram.co.za/.
About MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography)
MAMI, formally Melrose Arch Mammography Inc., is a breast imaging practice located on the first floor at 10 Melrose Boulevard, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg. It is the new face of Parklane Women’s Imaging Centre, the first internationally accredited breast imaging unit in Africa. Services include mammography on 3D tomosynthesis equipment, breast ultrasound performed by a radiologist, and ultrasound and stereotactic guided breast biopsies, alongside cryoablation, bone density and body composition scans, and scar management massage. The practice is accredited by the American College of Radiology for mammography, stereotactic biopsy, breast ultrasound and breast MRI, and holds recognition as a Breast Imaging Centre of Excellence. Part of a multidisciplinary breast cancer team of surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and radiologists, the unit is led by diagnostic radiologist Dr Peter Schoub.
Media Contact
MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 11 484 3149
Website: https://mammogram.co.za/
