Ultrafast Bilateral DCE-MRI of the Breast with Conventional Fourier Sampling: Preliminary Evaluation of Semi-quantitative Analysis.
The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and advantages of a combined high temporal and high spatial resolution protocol for dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the breast.



Twenty-three patients with enhancing lesions were imaged at 3T. The acquisition protocol consisted of a series of bilateral, fat-suppressed "ultrafast" acquisitions, with 6.9- to 9.9-second temporal resolution for the first minute following contrast injection, followed by four high spatial resolution acquisitions with 60- to 79.5-second temporal resolution. All images were acquired with standard uniform Fourier sampling. A filtering method was developed to reduce noise and detect significant enhancement in the high temporal resolution images. Time of arrival (TOA) was defined as the time at which each voxel first satisfied all the filter conditions, relative to the time of initial arterial enhancement.



Ultrafast images improved visualization of the vasculature feeding and draining lesions. A small percentage of the entire field of view (<6%) enhanced significantly in the 30 seconds following contrast injection. Lesion conspicuity was highest in early ultrafast images, especially in cases with marked parenchymal enhancement. Although the sample size was relatively small, the average TOA for malignant lesions was significantly shorter than the TOA for benign lesions. Significant differences were also measured in other parameters descriptive of early contrast media uptake kinetics (P < 0.05).



Ultrafast imaging in the first minute of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the breast has the potential to add valuable information on early contrast dynamics. Ultrafast imaging could allow radiologists to confidently identify lesions in the presence of marked background parenchymal enhancement.
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Federico D
FD
Pineda
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Milica
M
Medved
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Shiyang
S
Wang
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Xiaobing
X
Fan
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
David V
DV
Schacht
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Charlene
C
Sennett
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Aytekin
A
Oto
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Gillian M
GM
Newstead
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637.
Hiroyuki
H
Abe
Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. MC 2026, Chicago, IL, 60637. Electronic address: gskarczm@uchicago.edu.
Gregory S
GS
Karczmar
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001940:Breast / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013995:Time; D055815:Young Adult
D003287:Contrast Media
DCE-MRI; breast imaging; high temporal resolution; lesion kinetics