Breast Cancer
Breast MRI has the maximum sensitivity for breast cancer identification among recent clinical imaging modalities and is vital for breast imaging techniques. It provides more information regarding the magnitude of breast cancer than is achievable with a mammogram alone! The breast MRI process in Intermountain Medical Imaging uses magnets and radio waves to generate detailed 3D images of the breast tissue. The procedure takes approximately 25-45 minutes to finish and helps women find the presence of dense breast tissue that can’t be detected on a mammogram.
How Does a Breast MRI Work?
The steps of traditional breast MRI or abbreviated breast MRI are the following:
- A doctor will ask you to remove your clothes and wear pants with no zippers. You will also be asked to take out whatever metal you’re wearing.
- A dye will be injected into your vein via an IV.
- You will lie on your stomach, facing down, on a cushioned platform with shielded breast holes for the test. The platform’s holes allow your breasts to hang down without being squeezed. Breast coils are receivers that pick up magnetic signals from the MRI scanner and encircle each aperture.
- The platform glides in the middle of the big, tube-shaped MRI scanner. You will have to remain seated. Although you will not experience anything, the MRI machine will make loud noises. To eliminate the sound, headphones or earplugs are typically offered. You can use the headphones to tune in to music if you desire to.
- The radiologist will now be assessing you from another room. They might ask you to catch your breath briefly or lie still during the test. You can talk to them via a specialized microphone.
When is Breast MRI used?
This technique can be used in distinct situations:
To check up on the breasts if someone has symptoms that might be from breast cancer
A breast MRI is done if breast cancer is suspected based on symptoms, for example, dubious nipple discharge. Other imaging tests, for example, breast ultrasound and mammograms, are conducted first, but an MRI should be done if the outcomes of these tests aren’t transparent.
To look for silicone breast implant leaks
For women who have had silicone breast implants, a breast MRI can be done to look for implant leaks. This method doesn’t apply to women with saline breast implants.
To screen for breast cancer
For specific women at high stake for breast cancer, a screening breast MRI is needed along with a yearly mammogram. MRI isn’t suggested as a screening trial by itself since it can bypass some cancers that a mammogram would discover. Although MRI can detect some cancers, which can’t be spotted on a mammogram, it’s likely to find things that might be a false positive, which results in some women getting biopsies or tests that end up not being required. Hence, MRI isn’t recommended as a screening exam for women at moderate risk of breast cancer.
To help decide on the degree of breast cancer
Breast MRI can help decide on the cancer’s exact size and location if it has already been diagnosed. It also helps determine the other tumors in the breast and check for any potential tumors in the other breast.
Conclusion
Doctors use a similar standard system to elaborate on mammograms, breast MRIs, and ultrasound outcomes. This strategy, known as breast imaging reporting and data system or BI-RADS, sorts the results into varieties numbered 0 through 6. By distinguishing the results into these varieties, doctors can tell what they discover on a breast MRI using similar words and terms, making communicating regarding these test outcomes and following up after tests much more hassle-free.