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Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI is quickly becoming the “go-to” imaging device for a number of reasons in a number of medical disciplines.

“It’s becoming more and more important as computer technology and our experience grows,” says J. Pierre Sasson, M.D., director of MRI at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

Evaluating breast health is one area in which the use of MRI has grown significantly over the last few years. “Recently, there has been some evidence that shows breast MRI is especially useful for screening women who are at high risk for, or genetically predisposed to, breast cancer,” says Dr. Sasson. A woman is considered a high-risk patient if she carries the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene, has a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer or a personal history of breast cancer.

As a screening and diagnostic tool, MRI is used in conjunction with mammography. The two imaging devices differ in the way they capture images, but complement each other very well. For women at high risk, Dr. Sasson recommends spacing mammography and MRI in six-month intervals. “If a woman had a mammogram in October, I would do an MRI in April. That way, we check on her twice a year,” he says.

Dr. Sasson notes that MRI should not be a replacement for mammography. “Mammography can demonstrate very small calcifications that are not visible on an MRI exam. Those calcifications can be an early indication of cancer,” he says.

According to Dr. Sasson, MRI is extremely sensitive in detecting abnormalities and can read through dense breast tissue. In fact, it has been shown to be beneficial in many high-risk women who are younger and have dense breasts. “MRI allows physicians to use techniques that subtract away the dense tissue,” says Dr. Sasson. He says an MRI is performed and then a contrast agent called Gadolinium DTPA is injected into the patient’s arm. The contrast agent is administrated to help the abnormal breast tissue stand out more. The images are then fed into a computer and analyzed by a radiologist.

Dr. Sasson believes we’re at the forefront of breast MRI technology. He says not only will it be used for screening high-risk patients, but it will also be used in the evaluation of patients with a known diagnosis of cancer, so physicians can establish the extent of the disease and follow them in the future for recurrent tumors.

For a free breast self-exam shower card, please call us at 617-499-5094.

Mammography, breast ultrasound, ultrasound breast biopsy and stereotactic breast biopsy programs are accredited by the American College of Radiology. We are licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and have a valid Certificate of Inspection.