This will help the radiologist when they interpret the mammogram images. MR imaging may also be used as an adjunctive tool to conventional mammography for women with implants. MR imaging gives radiologists significant freedom in acquiring direct views of the breasts in any plane or orientation. MR also allows the doctors to easily visualize the muscle and chest wall in the vicinity of the breast, which may be important to check for the spread of cancer. MR imaging can also be used to image breast tissue and cosmetic implants.
Implants can obscure some of the breast tissue on conventional x-ray mammography images.
This is because x-rays used for mammographic imaging of the breasts cannot penetrate silicone or saline implants well enough to image the overlying or underlying breast tissue. MR imaging does not have this limitation. MR mammography can image the breast tissue that is compressed by an implant. However, x-ray mammography is still the best tool for evaluating breast tissue and for screening and diagnosing breast cancer. There is no routine recommendation for using MR imaging as a cancer screening tool in women with implants, although it can be helpful in selected cases.