Abbreviated MRI of the Breast (ePub)

Although mammography is the primary method used for breast cancer screening, screening mammography is limited especially in women with dense breasts, which includes nearly 50% of all women in the United States. Despite improvements such as digital mammography, computed aided detection, and digital breast tomosynthesis, breast cancer continues to be a leading cause of cancer-related death in women. The recent proliferation of screening breast ultrasound has led to increased health care costs and false positives, with only a slight improvement in breast cancer detection. It is time for a better test.

This is the first textbook dedicated to the subject of abbreviated breast MRI (AB-MR). The editors are principal investigators in the first multicenter trial evaluating AB-MR. Each chapter is authored by a leading expert in the field of breast MRI.

AB-MR only takes 10 minutes or less to perform, has a comparable cost to screening breast ultrasound, and detects twice as many cancers compared to combined screening with mammography and ultrasound. The improved performance of AB-MR is irrespective of breast density, family history, overall breast cancer risk, and cancer characteristics (e.g. type, staging, invasive or intraductal, primary or recurrent). As such, it will likely become a routine screening tool in women with dense breasts.

Key Features

• A background on breast MR imaging including a review of current research data
• Fundamental guidelines for implementing, performing, and interpreting AB-MR
• Technical approaches with proven efficacy, including biopsy methods
• Accurate interpretation presented in an easy-to-read flow chart format
• More than 250 high quality color illustrations

AB-MR has the potential to help radiologists overcome breast cancer screening limitations and change current standards of practice. This book provides radiologists with the necessary tools to quickly incorporate AB-MR into clinical practice, with an ultimate goal of improved breast cancer detection rates and patient outcomes.