Breast MRI during pregnancy and lactation: clinical challenges and technical advances
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Noam Nissan; Ethan Bauer; Efi Efraim Moss Massasa; Miri Sklair-Levy
- Source
- Insights into Imaging, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 1-21 (2022)
- Subject
- Pregnancy
Lactation
Breast MRI
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer
PABC
Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine
R895-920
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1869-4101
Abstract The breast experiences substantial changes in morphology and function during pregnancy and lactation which affects its imaging properties and may reduce the visibility of a concurrent pathological process. The high incidence of benign gestational-related entities may further add complexity to the clinical and radiological evaluation of the breast during the period. Consequently, pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) is often a delayed diagnosis and carries a poor prognosis. This state-of-the-art pictorial review illustrates how despite currently being underutilized, technical advances and new clinical evidence support the use of unenhanced breast MRI during pregnancy and both unenhanced and dynamic-contrast enhanced (DCE) during lactation, to serve as effective supplementary modalities in the diagnostic work-up of PABC.