Characterization of breast lesions using the 3D FIESTA sequence and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether combining 3D fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) and T1-weighted contrast-enhanced (CE) sequences could help characterize lesions in 32 women with benign, in situ, or invasive breast lesions. Since FIESTA provides both T1 and T2 information on the same three-dimensional (3D) matrix as high-resolution T1-weighted dynamic data, we aimed to verify whether invasive lesions could be separated from in situ and/or benign lesions using quantitative FIESTA measures of tissue intensity and homogeneity.


METHODS
With the use of CE-MRI data, regions of interest (ROIs) were manually delineated in enhancing lesions and on surrounding normal tissue. These ROIs were then applied to 3D FIESTA data. Quantitative measures between lesion and normal tissue were compared among the lesion groups.


RESULTS
On FIESTA most invasive cancer lesions were hypointense compared to surrounding normal tissue (mean lesion intensity was 89% of normal tissue intensity), whereas most ductal and benign lesions appeared hyperintense compared to surrounding normal tissue (lesions at 100.9% and 121.9% of normal tissue intensity, respectively). Measures obtained from resampled T2-weighted data showed no significant differences between the invasive and benign lesion groups.


CONCLUSIONS
We detected significant differences between invasive and noninvasive lesions by quantifying intensity differences between the lesions and surrounding normal tissue on FIESTA.
Klifa
Catherine S
CS
Magnetic Resonance Science Center, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-1290, USA. klifa@mrsc.ucsf.edu
Shimakawa
Ann
A
Siraj
Zaker
Z
Gibbs
Jessica E
JE
Wilmes
Lisa J
LJ
Partridge
Savannah C
SC
Proctor
Evelyn
E
Hylton
Nola M
NM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness
D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA