[The future of women with isolated abnormal infrared thermogram of the breast (author's transl)].

Abnormal infra-red thermograms of the breast are called "isolated" when they are not accompanied by other clinical or paraclinical abnormalities. They occur in asymptomatic women systematically examined or in women consulting for mammary symptoms other than palpable nodules. Their incidence is about 10-15%. They are usually considered as "false-positive" findings, but when these women are regularly followed up breast cancers are found to occur with a frequency ranging from 5% to 38%. "False-positive" thermograms therefore imply a high risk of breast cancer. Extremely prolonged clinical surveillance with periodical radiothermic tests and, if necessary, guided biopsies are required for early detection of small-size or even impalpable mammary carcinomas.