Breast cancer in dense breast: Detection with contrast-enhanced dynamic MRimaging

The purpose of this study was to identify contrast enhancement patterns of dense breast parenchyma and to investigate the ability of dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect cancer in the dense breast. Thirty-two pa tients with breast cancer in dense breast underwent gadolinium-enhanced dyn amic MRI. The detectability of cancer by dynamic MRI, mammography, and phys ical examination was compared. Two parenchymal enhancement patterns could b e identified. One was increasingly multiple patchy enhancement found predom inantly in the periphery (type A), and the other was faint enhancement with out any nodular opacification (type B), Type A was thought to reflect sever e proliferative fibrocystic change (PFC), For both patterns, the detection rate of primary cancers by dynamic MRI was found to be superior to that by other modalities. Dynamic MRI also could detect multifocal cancers, which c ould not be found with other modalities, although the detectability of thes e small cancers might be reduced In patients with severe PFC, (C) 2000 Wile y-Liss, Inc.