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BACKGROUND. There is a paucity of data and consensus guidelines on the utility of preoperative MRI for planned bilateral prophylactic mastectomy. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of breast MRI performed in high-risk patients for the indication of planned bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, with attention given to the diagnostic performance for breast cancer detection. A secondary aim was to assess the potential impact of breast MRI findings on the decision to perform sentinel lymph node biopsy at the time of prophylactic mastectomy. METHODS. A retrospective database review identified MRI examinations performed at an academic medical center from August 2003 to January 2020 for the indication of planned bilateral prophylactic mastectomy. Patient demographics, imaging findings, operative details, and pathology were recorded. BI-RADS category 1 and 2 assessments were considered negative examinations, and BI-RADS category 3, 4, and 5 assessments were considered positive examinations. Descriptive statistics and performance metrics were calculated. RESULTS. The final cohort included 53 patients (mean age, 45 years). Most (35/53; 66.0%) studies were baseline examinations. Of the 53 patients, 31 (58.5%) had negative MRI examinations and 22 (41.5%) had positive MRI examinations. MRI detected two malignancies (one invasive lobular carcinoma and one high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ), both of which were assessed as BI-RADS category 4. The patient with invasive lobular cancer underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy at the time of mastectomy, which showed metastasis. Breast MRI had sensitivity of 100.0% and specificity of 60.8% for overall breast cancer detection and sensitivity of 100.0% and specificity of 59.6% for invasive cancer detection. CONCLUSION. Preoperative MRI for planned bilateral prophylactic mastectomy detected all cancers, indicating a potential role for MRI in impacting surgical decision making. CLINICAL IMPACT. Given the high NPV for cancer, our results suggest that lymph node biopsy may be safely avoided in patients with a negative MRI examination. This is clinically relevant because sentinel nodes cannot be identified after mastectomy.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article was to determine the frequency and outcomes of new suspicious findings on breast MRI after initiation of neoadjuvant therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A retrospective database review identified all breast MRI examinations performed to assess response to neoadjuvant therapy between 2010 and 2018. Cases with new suspicious lesions assessed as BI-RADS 4 or 5 and found after the initiation of neoadjuvant treatment were included. Cases with no pretreatment MRI, cases in which the suspicious lesion was present on the baseline MRI but remained suspicious, and cases with insufficient follow-up were excluded. Radiologic, pathologic, and surgical reports were reviewed. Malignant outcomes were determined by pathologic examination. Benignity was established by pathologic examination, follow-up imaging, or both. A total of 419 breast MRI examinations in 297 women were performed to assess response to neoadjuvant therapy. After exclusions, 23 MRI examinations (5.5%) with new suspicious findings, all assessed as BI-RADS 4, comprised the final cohort. RESULTS. Of the 23 lesions, 13 new suspicious findings (56.5%) were contralateral to the known malignancy, nine (39.1%) were ipsilateral, and one (4.3%) involved the bilateral breasts. Lesion types included mass (16, 69.6%), nonmass enhancement (5, 21.7%) and focus (2, 8.7%). None of the new suspicious findings were malignant. CONCLUSION. New suspicious findings occurred in 5.5% of breast MRI examinations performed to monitor response to neoadjuvant therapy, and none of these new lesions were malignant. Our findings suggest that new lesions that arise in the setting of neoadjuvant therapy are highly unlikely to represent a new site of malignancy, particularly if the index malignancy shows treatment response. Larger studies are needed to confirm whether biopsy may be safely averted in this scenario.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of diagnostic mammography alone for evaluation of palpable symptoms in women with almost entirely fatty breast composition. MATERIALS AND METHODS. All diagnostic mammograms performed for palpable symptoms in women who had been assigned a breast density of "almost entirely fatty" over an 8-year period (2009-2017) at an academic breast center were retrospectively identified. Each symptomatic breast was considered a separate case and analyses were performed at the case level. Clinical, imaging, and pathologic results were reviewed. Descriptive statistics and 2 × 2 contingency table analyses were performed. RESULTS. The study cohort included 323 cases evaluated with mammography. Of these, 294 (91%) had undergone targeted ultrasound. At mammography, 240 (74%) had no correlate to the palpable lump; 38 (12%), a benign correlate; and 45 (14%), a suspicious correlate. Three cases had incidental suspicious mammographic findings, for a total of 48 positive mammography cases. Twenty-seven (8%) cases were malignant. Mammography alone detected all but one cancer, which was detected by ultrasound. In retrospect, the woman from whom this single false-negative mammogram was obtained did not have almost entirely fatty breast density. Mammography alone yielded a negative predictive value of 99.6%, percentage of diagnostic examinations recommended for biopsy that resulted in a tissue diagnosis of malignancy within 1 year of 54%, sensitivity of 96%, and specificity of 93%. Adjunct ultrasound contributed to 11 false-positives but also identified benign correlates in eight cases with no mammographic finding. CONCLUSION. In patients with almost entirely fatty breast tissue presenting with palpable symptoms, mammography alone had a high sensitivity and specificity. Our results support that mammography alone may be sufficient for evaluation of palpable symptoms in these women as long as density criteria are strictly applied.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a magnetic seed system for preoperative localization of axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We performed a retrospective analysis that included patients with breast cancer who underwent preoperative magnetic seed localization of axillary lymph nodes at our institution between January 1, 2017, and January 1, 2019. Magseed (Endomag) is a nonradioactive inducible magnetic seed that is induced to become a magnet when under the influence of its detector in the operating room. Clinical history, prior axillary sampling and clip placement, and procedure details and surgical outcomes were determined from a search of our PACS and electronic medical records. RESULTS. Thirty-five patients (34 women and one man) composed our study cohort. The mean patient age was 56 years (range, 32-78 years). One patient underwent two separate consecutive localizations for two separate operations, and another patient had bilateral lesions, for a total of 37 axillary lymph node localizations. One case of seed misplacement occurred during the ultrasound-guided localization procedure, resulting in immediate placement of a second seed, for a total of 38 Magseeds placed. All seeds were placed under ultrasound guidance. The mean number of days from seed placement to surgery was 5 days (range, 0-31 days). Thirty-seven of 38 Magseeds (97%) were documented to be successfully retrieved in the operating room. CONCLUSION. Magseed localization appears to be a safe, nonradioactive way to accurately localize axillary lymph nodes preoperatively.

Objective: Treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is controversial given the variable recurrence and progression to invasive carcinoma. Identifying women who would benefit from adjuvant radiation therapy on the basis of their recurrence risk may allow more individualized management strategies. The Oncotype DX Breast DCIS Score-which we refer to here as the "DCIS score"-is a validated surrogate marker of local recurrence. This study evaluated the association between BI-RADS mammographic calcification descriptors and the DCIS score., Materials and Methods: Fifty-eight women diagnosed with DCIS presenting with calcifications who had Oncotype DX Breast DCIS assay results were identified. Pretreatment BI-RADS mammographic calcification features were collected including morphology, distribution, and maximum span. The association between calcification descriptors and DCIS score was assessed with logistic regression modeling. Mean DCIS scores were calculated for calcification features significantly associated with DCIS score. All analyses were adjusted for patient age, DCIS grade, and progesterone receptor status., Results: Of the suspicious calcifications that proved to represent DCIS, 19.0% were amorphous; 25.9%, coarse heterogeneous; 39.7%, fine pleomorphic; and 15.5%, fine linear or fine linear branching in morphology. The mean DCIS scores by calcification morphology were 22.3, 35.5, 36.7, and 44.1, respectively. Amorphous calcification morphology had a significantly lower adjusted mean DCIS score compared with fine pleomorphic morphology (p = 0.01) and fine linear or fine linear branching morphology (p = 0.02). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of intermediate or high risk of recurrence (defined as a DCIS score ≥ 39) was significantly higher for women with fine pleomorphic calcifications (OR = 53.1, p = 0.01) and for those with fine linear or fine linear branching calcifications (OR = 24.0, p = 0.04) than for women with amorphous calcifications., Conclusion: Women with amorphous calcification morphology had the lowest DCIS scores compared with women with fine pleomorphic and fine linear or fine linear branching morphologies. Both fine pleomorphic and fine linear or fine linear branching morphologies were associated with higher odds of intermediate or high risk of recurrence. These findings suggest mammographic features are potential biomarkers of DCIS recurrence and could help individualize treatment decisions.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of correlation of sonographic and MRI findings after percutaneous sampling of presumed ultrasound correlates to suspicious lesions detected on breast MRI and to describe our initial experiences with limited-sequence MRI for postprocedural clip verification., Materials and Methods: Between January 1, 2014, and March 31, 2016, a total of 1947 contrast-enhanced breast MRI examinations were performed, and 245 targeted ultrasound examinations were conducted to identify correlates to suspicious MRI findings. We retrospectively identified all lesions that underwent ultrasound-guided sampling of a presumed sonographic correlate and for which a subsequent postprocedural limited-sequence unenhanced MR image for clip localization was available. This consisted of a T1-weighted non-fat-saturated and a T2-weighted fat-saturated sequence. Frequencies of sonographic-MRI correlation were quantified., Results: The study cohort consisted of 35 patients with 38 presumed correlates that underwent ultrasound-guided sampling with postprocedural MRI for clip verification. The mean time from percutaneous sampling to postprocedural MRI examination was 1 day. Ten presumed sonographic correlates (26%) were found to localize to a site distinct from the lesion originally identified on MRI. One of these discordant cases revealed malignancy on subsequent MRI-guided biopsy, whereas the presumed sonographic correlate was found to be benign. No patient or lesion characteristics were associated with significantly different frequencies of correlation., Conclusion: In our initial experiences with MRI performed for postprocedural clip verification, 26% of presumed correlates to suspicious lesions detected on MRI were not the actual correlate, and 10% of these discordant cases ultimately revealed malignancy. Radiologists should take caution presuming that lesions identified on ultrasound actually represent the suspicious lesions detected on MRI. MRI for clip verification may be useful if ultrasound-guided sampling is pursued.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate a nonradioactive inducible magnetic seed system (Magseed, Endomag) for preoperative localization of nonpalpable breast lesions., Conclusion: All of the 73 seeds placed in the first 4 months of clinical use were successfully placed and all were successfully retrieved intraoperatively. The mean time from seed placement to surgery was 3 days. Early clinical experience suggests that Magseed is an effective and accurate means of preoperative breast lesion localization.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of very strong family history and extremely dense tissue in women 40-49 years old with breast cancer detected on screening mammography., Materials and Methods: All cancers detected by screening mammography at our institution between January 1997 and November 2012 in 40- to 49-year-old women were retrospectively identified. Those with a personal history of breast cancer were excluded. Family history, breast density, type of malignancy, hormone receptor status, and lymph node status were recorded., Results: One hundred thirty-six cases of breast cancer were identified on screening mammography in 40- to 49-year-old women; 50% were invasive cancers, and 50%, ductal carcinoma in situ. Very strong family history was absent in 88%, and extremely dense breast tissue was absent in 86%. Seventy-six percent of patients had neither very strong family history nor extremely dense breasts, including 79% of the cases of invasive cancers, of which 25% had axillary nodal involvement and 89% were estrogen receptor positive., Conclusion: Very strong family history and extremely dense breast tissue were absent in most 40- to 49-year-old women with breast cancer detected at screening mammography. These cancers were frequently invasive (often with nodal metastases) and treatable (hormone receptor positive). Reducing the number of women to be screened in this age group by using this risk-based approach would reduce the number of screen-detected cancers by more than 75%, thereby precluding the benefit of mortality reduction. Even using a risk-based strategy with an expanded definition of high risk that included any first-degree family history, extremely dense tissue, or both, 66% of malignancies would still be missed.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is describe the origins and provisions of breast density legislation and to evaluate these mandates with regard to the balance between the potential benefit of supplementary screening and the substantial risk of false-positive findings and the adjunctive tests they necessitate. CONCLUSION. Many states have passed breast density notification legislation, and federal legislation is pending. These mandates present a number of challenges for patients and physicians. There is no consensus regarding the need for supplementary testing solely because a woman has dense breasts. The failure of density legislation to require insurance coverage in many states further complicates implementation of the mandates.

Objective: This article will discuss routine 1.5 and 3 T MRI of the breast as well as illustrate several examples of patient-related and technical artifacts one might encounter. Suggestions to help eliminate these artifacts and optimize images will be provided., Conclusion: Artifacts seen on breast MR images can degrade image quality and obscure important findings. Recognizing artifacts and understanding how to address and troubleshoot them is essential for any radiologist interpreting breast MRI.