One alternative to

mammography Mammography (also called mastography) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through d ...

, breast MRI or contrast-enhanced

magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...

(MRI), has shown substantial progress in the detection of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

Uses

Some of the uses of MRI of the breasts are: screening for malignancy in women with greater than 20% lifetime risk of breast cancer (especially those with high risk genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2), evaluate breast implants for rupture, screening the opposite side breast for malignancy in women with known one sided breast malignancy, extent of disease and the presence of multifocality and multicentricity in patients with invasive carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and evaluate response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. MRI breasts has the highest sensitivity to detect breast cancer when compared with other imaging modalities such as

breast ultrasound Breast ultrasound is the use of medical ultrasonography to perform imaging of the breast. It can be considered either a diagnostic or a screening procedure. It may be used either with or without a mammogram. It may be useful in younger women, w ...

. In the screening for breast cancer for high-risk women, sensitivity of MRI range from 83 to 94% while specificity (the confidence that a lesion is cancerous and not a

false positive A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test result ...

) range from 75.2% to 100%.

Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis

The systemic disease

nephrogenic systemic fibrosis Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is a rare syndrome that involves fibrosis of skin, joints, eyes, and internal organs. NSF is caused by exposure to gadolinium in gadolinium-based MRI contrast agents (GBCAs) in patients with impaired kidney function. ...

(NSF), caused by exposure to gadolinium in

MRI contrast agents Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

, resembles

scleromyxedema Papular mucinosis (also known as scleromyxedema, "generalized lichen myxedematosus" and "sclerodermoid lichen myxedematosus") is a rare skin disease. Localized and disseminated cases are called papular mucinosis or lichen myxedematosus while gener ...

and to some extent

scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas of ...

. It may occur months after contrast has been injected. Patients with poorer kidney function are more at risk for NSF, with dialysis patients being more at risk than patients with

chronic kidney disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of kidney disease in which a gradual loss of kidney function occurs over a period of months to years. Initially generally no symptoms are seen, but later symptoms may include leg swelling, feeling tired, vo ...

. After several years of controversy during which up to 100 Danish patients have been gadolinium poisoned (and some died) after use of the contrast agent Omniscan, the Norwegian medical company Nycomed admitted that they were aware of some dangers of using gadolinium-based agents for their product. At present, NSF has been linked to the use of four gadolinium-containing MRI contrast agents.

References

{{Medical imaging Magnetic resonance imaging Breast imaging