6 MRI-guided Interventions

After mammography and ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast is the third diagnostic imaging technique used in the diagnostic work-up of breast findings. In contrast to the other techniques, MRI primarily gives information on the vascularization of intramammary structures. Because malignant tumors typically have an increased vascularization attributed to tumor neoangiogenesis, this phenomena can be visualized in the slice images acquired after administration of a contrast medium to differentiate between benign and malignant findings of the breast. Numerous studies substantiate that magnetic resonance (MR) mammography is clearly superior to other imaging modalities in the detection of invasive breast cancers. Furthermore, first studies show that MRI using HR methods is also superior in the detection of intraductal tumors. Currently, MRI of the breast has a sensitivity of approx. 85–95%. The specificity achieved by working groups performing MR mammography with a high technical and procedural quality is approx. 90%.