COMPARISON OF MAMMOGRAPHY, SONOGRAPHY, AND MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGINGIN THE DETECTION OF SILICONE-GEL BREAST IMPLANT RUPTURE

Silicone-gel breast implant rupture is difficult to diagnose pre-opera tively. A variety of radiological methods have been used for diagnosis . This study prospectively compares film-screen mammography, high-reso lution sonography, and magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of implant rupture using predetermined diagnostic criteria. Thirteen pati ents (24 implants) underwent film-screen mammography, sonography, and magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the integrity of their implants . All patients subsequently underwent surgical removal of the implants . Preoperatively, the integrity of each implant was rated on a three-l evel classification system on the basis of one modality by a reviewer who was unaware of the results of the other two modalities. The three imaging modalities achieved the following sensitivities and specificit ies, respectively: mammography, 69% and 82%; sonography, 54% and 64%; MRI, 69% and 55%. Even though each modality addresses some of the limi tations of the others, in this group of patients, there was no clearly superior imaging tool.