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Breast MRI

Westcoast Radiology is committed to leading the fight against breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Our goal is to bring the newest and most powerful imaging tools that will enable physicians to detect breast cancer and to diagnose it more accurately. Our breast MRI solution offers uncompromised imaging for increased diagnostic confidence.

MR imaging uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of organs, soft tissues, bone and virtually all other internal body structures. The images can then be examined on a computer monitor or printed. MRI does not use ionizing radiation (x-rays).

MRI of the breast offers valuable information about many breast conditions that cannot be obtained by other imaging modalities, such as mammography or ultrasound.

Indications for Breast MRI

MRI of the breast is mostly used as a supplemental tool for detecting and staging breast cancer and other breast abnormalities. MR imaging of the breast is performed to:

• Evaluate abnormalities detected by mammography.
• Evaluation of women with dense breast tissue.
• Utilized as a screening tool with women at high risk for Breast Cancer-family history,etc.
• Screen for cancer in women who have implants or scar tissue that might jeopardize an accurate result from a mammogram.
• Determine leaks or rupture in breast implants.
• Distinguish between scar tissue and recurrent tumors.
• Evaluate multiple tumor locations.
• Asses for multiple tumors prior to breast conservation surgery.
• Determine extent and spread of cancer in the breast or adjacent chest wall.
• Determine how much cancer has spread beyond the surgical site after a breast biopsy or lumpectomy.
• Assess the effect of chemotherapy.

View the American Cancer Society’s current recommendations

VIBRANT uses the GE exclusive GEM acceleration technique to further accelerate the scanning speed of GE's patent pending VIBRANT technique. With VIBRANT you can acquire higher resolution faster. VIBRANT still allows the choice of direct sagittal or axial imaging making it easy for you to satisfy your clinicians, and automatically optimizes parameters making it easy for your technologists to give you consistent image quality.

BREAST IMAGING MODALITIES

Digital Mammography Exam

Mammography is the most important tool in the diagnosis of breast cancer. A mammogram uses a low dose x-ray to take an image of the breast while the breast is compressed. These images are digital (on a computer) as opposed to film. Digital mammography may find abnormalities that cannot be seen or felt by you or your doctor. Most of these abnormalities are not cancer, but they must be further evaluated by a radiologist. Westcoast Radiology utilizes digital mammography with computer aided detection, or CAD to search for abnormal areas of density.

Digital mammography allows higher resolution of images and ability to manipulate image.

CAD provides a second computerized reading and highlight areas of suspected abnormalities.

While mammograms don’t prevent breast cancer, they help a doctor find it much earlier, while it is more treatable. A mammogram can identify a lump up to two years before it will become large enough for you to feel it. When breast cancer is found early, the five year survival rate is greater than 95%. Additionally, finding breast cancer early enables more women to select treatment options that allow them to keep their breasts.

Like many medical exams, mammograms are not 100% accurate, but they are the best imaging method available today for screening the population and finding breast cancer early. The American Cancer Society, The American Medical Association, and the American College of Radiology recommend that women age 40 and over have screening mammograms every year. Mammograms should be part of a comprehensive routine for checking for breast cancer that also includes monthly breast self examinations and annual clinical breast examinations.

Types of Mammograms

There are two types of mammograms: screening and diagnostic.

A screening mammogram is used to check for breast abnormalities in women who are asymptomatic, or currently not experiencing any symptoms of an abnormality. This type of mammogram is used for the majority of women. Two images of each breast are taken from different angles to look for abnormalities.

A diagnostic mammogram is performed when an abnormality was seen on a screening mammogram or a woman has a complaint or symptom, such as a breast lump, nipple discharge or focal breast pain. Someone with a personal history of breast cancer may have diagnostic mammograms for the first few years following lumpectomy/breast conservation surgery. With a diagnostic mammogram, more images are taken to determine the exact size and location of the abnormality and to better examine the surrounding tissue.

Reasons for Having a Mammogram

A screening mammogram can save your life by finding breast cancer significantly earlier than it would be found without a mammogram. By finding breast cancer early, a woman’s chances of survival are higher and she may have more treatment options available to her.

The risk of breast cancer increases as a woman ages. Consequently, it is important for women who are age forty or older to have a mammogram annually. Women at high risk for breast cancer (mother or sister with pre-menopausal breast cancer, personal history of breast cancer, you carry the breast cancer gene, previous biopsy with high risk lesion previous chest radiation for lymphoma) should consider starting yearly mammograms at a younger age.

A diagnostic mammogram is done to investigate an abnormality that has been found in the breast, either in the screening mammogram or during a breast self exam (BSE) by the woman or during the clinical breast exam (CBE) by the clinician. This type of mammogram may help a radiologist exclude a problem, diagnose an abnormality or determine subsequent evaluations.

Learn more about digital mammogram

Breast Ultrasound

Breast ultrasonography is used as an adjunct to mammography to distinguish if a lump or mass is solid tissue or if it is simply a fluid-filled cyst.

There is no special preparation for the ultrasound except to wear comfortable clothing.

The examination is painless and usually takes less than 30 minutes.

 

Learn more about breast ultrasound