Lateral describes a position away from the midline of the body.

A lateral view is a 90° degree view performed medial to lateral or lateral to medial. In mammography, lateral views are used for triangulation with the craniocaudal view of the breast and to demonstrate microcalcifications dependent on gravity.

The mediolateral view is one of the common routine views for mammography in addition to the craniocaudal view. The image receptor of the mammography system is placed lateral to the breast, and the horizontal x-ray beam is directed from medial to lateral through the breast.

(MLO) The mediolateral-oblique view is one of the standard two views of the breast. The image receptor of the mammography system is horizontally angled 30 to 60 degrees. The cassette assembly is parallel aligned to the pectoral muscle and the corner of the cassette holder fits comfortably into the axilla. The x-ray beam is directed from the superomedial to the inferolateral part of the breast.

The lateromedial view of a mammogram is performed with a 90° angulated x-ray beam directed from the lateral to the medial breast. For a lateromedial oblique view, the x-ray beam is directed from the lower-outer to the upper-inner part of the breast (the exact reverse of the mediolateral oblique view). These views improve the visualization of medial breast tissue (also called true reverse oblique).