Breast magnetic resonance imaging indications in current practice

Abstract

Although mammography is the primary imaging modality for the breast, it has its limitations especially with dense breast parenchyma. Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has evolved into an important adjunctive tool as it is currently the most sensitive technique for breast cancer detection. Despite this high sensitivity, overlap in the appearances of some benign and malignant breast lesions results in additional unnecessary intervention with negative results. These false positives, in addition to high cost and limited availability, necessitate establishing proper indications for breast MRI. The literature was here reviewed for recent clinical trials, meta-analyses and review papers which have studied this important subject. PubMed; the US national library of medicine, was utilized to review the literature in the last twenty years. Using the obtained information, current uses of breast MRI are discussed in this paper to determine the indications which are relevant to clinical practice.