Dedicated Double Breast Coil for Magnetic Resonance Mammography Imaging, Biopsy, and Preoperative Localization

Pfleiderer SOR, Reichenbach JR, Azhari T, et al. Dedicated double breast coil for magnetic resonance mammography imaging, biopsy, and preoperative localization. Invest Radiol 2003;38:1–8. RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES.The aim of this study was to compare the performance of a dedicated double breast coil for MR imaging and intervention with a standard diagnostic double breast coil. MATERIALS AND METHODS.Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) were determined for both coils by using a water phantom. Fourteen patients were examined, 11 underwent preoperative hookwire localization, two were biopsied, and one received diagnostic imaging. Breast images were acquired in three patients with both coils and were visually compared. Harvested specimen from the biopsies and surgeries following hookwire localization were histopathologically evaluated. RESULTS.SNR was superior with the interventional coil in the posterior (axillary) part of the imaging volume and inferior in the anterior part compared with the standard coil. Anatomic MR breast images were of similar diagnostic quality. For the two biopsy procedures the trocar was correctly placed in front of the suspicious lesion. Hookwires were correctly located inside the lesion in nine patients and in contact with the lesion in one patient. In one patient a 2 mm distance between the lesion and the wire was observed. CONCLUSIONS.Diagnostic imaging followed by subsequent MR-guided intervention is possible within a single session by using the dedicated interventional coil. The correct final position of the hookwires demonstrates the precision of the MR guided localization procedure.