Purpose: To evaluate preoperative contrast enhanced MR imaging in clinically, mammographically and/or ultrasonographically established breast cancer.
Materials and method: From September 1998 to August 1999, preoperative contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the breast was performed in 91 patients with lesions highly suggestive of malignancy (BIRADS IV and V) by clinical, mammographic, and/or ultrasonographic criteria. MR imaging findings were postsurgically correlated with other imaging, intraoperative and histopathologic results.
Results: Histopathologic analysis revealed 61 (66 %) malignant and 31 (34 %) benign lesions. In 63 (69 %) of the 91 investigated patients, MR mammographies were classified as tumor suspect and in the remaining 28 (31 %) cases as benign. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 90 %, 67 % and 81 % for contrast-enhanced MR imaging. Additional tumor manifestations (multifocal or multicentric disease, contralateral carcinoma) were found by MR imaging alone in 10 patients (11 %).
Conclusion: Contrast-enhanced MR imaging may reveal unsuspected multifocal, multicentric or contralateral breast carcinoma that changes the surgical therapy if the intention is total tumor removal. The prognostic role of a potentially more radical surgical therapy on the basis of these findings is not clear.