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Hello... I am a physician at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and I’d like to talk to you
today about breast MRI.
Although screening for breast cancer starts with mammography and ultrasound, breast MRI
is a very helpful tool. We find it especially helpful in the following situations.
If you have known breast cancer, a breast MRI can help evaluate the extent of disease
and help plan the proper surgery. Additionally, it can help us determine if there are other
areas of involvement in the other breast or lymph nodes.
We use it as a screening tool in high risk patients including patients who have had a
personal history of breast cancer, or have dense *** with a family history of breast
cancer. Also patients who have the breast cancer gene positivity, as well as history
of chest wall radiation benefit from breast MRI. It is not considered a screening tool
for the general population.
Finally, we use it for patients who are on chemotherapy to determine whether or not they
are responding appropriately to their regimen.
There are disadvantages to breast MRI. Most importantly, it's an expensive examination
and your insurance company is going to want to make sure you meet the proper indications
before approving the examination. Additionally, you will be expected to lay
motionless on your stomach in a tube for 30 minutes and receive an injection. One other
criticism of breast MRI is that because it is a sensitive examination, it can lead to
additional biopsies.
However, there are a lot of advantages, including the sensitivity which allows us to help tailor
the surgery for the patient. Additionally, there is no radiation. This is a very important
examination and it helps us to detect breast cancer every day, and it is available at the
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.