Breast magnetic resonance imaging: initial experience in Kuwait.

OBJECTIVE To report our initial experience of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in Kuwait in order to identify and characterize breast lesions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS In 58 patients ranging in age from 25 to 64 years, breast MRI was performed as a problem-solving tool (29); for suspicious local relapse of the treated breast (6); to search for a primary breast cancer in patients with metastatic axillary lymph nodes (5); for local staging of breast cancer (5); breast implants (6); screening in high-risk patients (3), and differentiation between inflammation and inflammatory carcinoma (4). Sagittal fat-saturated T(2) and axial T(1) images were obtained before, and axial fat-saturated T(1) and dynamic sagittal fat-saturated T(1)-weighted images after contrast enhancement in a 1.5-tesla closed magnet. The diagnostic criteria were based on the morphology and kinetics of the lesion. Findings were validated by tissue sampling or radiological follow-up. RESULTS Seventy breast lesions (25 malignant, 38 benign and 7 lesions detected by MRI only) were identified in the 58 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of MRI in diagnosing malignant breast lesions were 96, 67, 71 and 95%, respectively, while the accuracy was 80%. CONCLUSION This initial experience is comparable to other published data. Future plans for improving image spatial resolution and MR-guided procedures have been taken into consideration.