Background enhancement in breast MR: correlation with breast density in mammography and background echotexture in ultrasound.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to determine whether background enhancement on MR was related to mammographic breast density or ultrasonographic background echotexture in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.


METHODS
We studied 142 patients (79 premenopausal, 63 postmenopausal) who underwent mammography, ultrasonography, and breast MR. We reviewed the mammography for overall breast density of the contralateral normal breast according to the four-point scale of the BI-RADS classification. Ultrasound findings were classified as homogeneous or heterogeneous background echotexture according to the BI-RADS lexicon. We rated background enhancement on a contralateral breast MR into four categories based on subtraction images: absent, mild, moderate, and marked. All imaging findings were interpreted independently by two readers without knowledge of menstrual status, imaging findings of other modalities.


RESULTS
There were significant differences between the premenopausal and postmenopausal group in distribution of mammographic breast density, ultrasonographic background echotexture, and degree of background enhancement. Regarding the relationship between mammographic density and background enhancement, there was no significant correlation. There was significant relationship between ultrasonographic background echotexture and background enhancement in both premenopausal and postmenopausal groups.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a significant correlation between ultrasonographic background echotexture and background enhancement in MR regardless of menopausal status. Interpreting breast MR, or scheduling for breast MR of women showing heterogeneous background echotexture needs more caution.
Ko
Eun Sook
ES
Department of Radiology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, 215-4 Gongneung-Dong, Nowon-Gu, Seoul 139-706, Republic of Korea. esko@kcch.re.kr
Lee
Byung Hee
BH
Choi
Hye Young
HY
Kim
Rock Bum
RB
Noh
Woo-Chul
WC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003720:Densitometry / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*