Clinically Practical MRI/MRS Protocol for Improved Specificity in Breast Cancer Diagnosis

A. Tudorica, P. Fisher, K. Dulaimy, B. O'Hea, T. Button, W. Huang Department of radiology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, United States, Department of Surgery, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, United States Synopsis The goal of this study was to determine if a combined MRI/MRS protocol of dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE) T1-weighted MRI, H MRS, and perfusion MRI improves specificity in detection of breast malignancy. 61 patients with positive mammography findings were studied. After DCE MRI showed fast contrast enhancement, single-voxel H MRS and perfusion MRI examinations were performed. DCE MRI showed 100% sensitivity and 76% specificity in detection of breast cancer. The specificity improved to 89% with the addition of H MRS, and to 96% with the further addition of perfusion MR