Value of an abbreviated protocol of breast magnetic resonance imaging for screening high-risk patients

Objective: Value the utility of breast MRI abbreviated protocols for the screening of breast cancer in high-risk patients compared to the full protocol.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 157 breast MRI of 82 high-risk patients practiced in our hospital between January 2011 and January 2017. Clinical, radiological and anatomopathological parameters were analyzed. Reading of the different protocols (MIP, abbreviated and full) was made by an expert radiologist. Subsequent statistical analysis was done.

Results: A total amount of 12 findings classified as BI-RADS 4 and 5 were identified and performed a biopsy, resulting 11 of them to be malignant (91.67%) and 1 benign (8.33%). The malignant wounds included 4 intraductal carcinoma (33.33%) and 7 infiltrating ductal carcinoma (58.33%). All injuries were detected with the three protocols and no significant differences were found between their respective area under the ROC curve (p=0.0650).

Conclusions: In our study there are no significant differences between the different protocols (MIP, abbreviated and full), which places the abbreviated protocol as a promising tool for breast cancer screening in high-risk patients.