Dynamic sequential 3D gadolinium-enhanced MRI of the whole breast

• Published in: Magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 337 - 348
• Main Authors: Heiberg, Elisabeth V., Perman, William H., Herrmann, Virginia M., Janney, Christina G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 1996; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Breast - pathology; Breast lesions; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Contrast Media; Contrast-enhanced 2D MR imaging; Female; Gadolinium DTPA; Genital system. Mammary gland; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymphatic Metastasis; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical sciences; Organometallic Compounds; Pentetic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Predictive Value of Tests; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sequential 3D gadolimium-enhanced MRI; Contrast-enhanced 2D MR imaging; Sequential 3D gadolimium-enhanced MRI; Breast lesions; Human; Mammary gland diseases; Staging; Female; Gadolinium; Tridimensional image; Mammary gland; Contrast; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Optimization
• ISSN: 0730-725X; 1873-5894
• DOI: 10.1016/0730-725X(95)02112-7

Dynamic contrast-enhanced 2D MR imaging of the breast has shown high sensitivity and specificity for the detection and characterization of breast lesions. We investigated the ability of a dynamic fast 3D MR imaging technique that repeatedly scans the whole breast in 44-s intervals without an interscan delay time to obtain similar sensitivity and specificity as 2D imaging. Fifty-six patients scheduled for breast biopsy were entered into the study, and 83 lesions detected by 3D dynamic scanning were biopsied. Dynamic 3D contrast-enhanced breast imaging with subtraction detected and correctly classified all 23 cancers, and 44 of the 60 benign lesions yielding a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 73%, and a 100% predictive negative value. The enhancement profiles of metastatic lymph nodes were similar to those of primary cancer. This technique allowed detection of multifocal and multicentric lesions and did not require a priori knowledge of lesion location. These results indicate that dynamic contrast-enhanced 3D MRI of the whole breast is a useful and economically feasible method for staging breast cancer, providing a comprehensive noninvasive method for total evaluation of the breast and axilla in patients considering breast conservation surgery or lumpectomy.