The study was published on researchsquare.com as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.
Key Takeaway
On breast MRIs, oval/round masses, masses with T2 hyperintense enhancement, and non-mass lesions with homogeneous enhancement patterns are unlikely to be malignant and are more likely to yield false positive results.
Why This Matters
Use of breast MRI as a screening tool is limited by the high rate of false positives.
The current findings can help reduce this risk by identifying features associated with false positives.
Foregoing biopsy when these features are present can reduce patient anxiety and save healthcare dollars.
Study Design
The team correlated the MRI findings and pathology results of 219 women (median age, 49 years) who had undergone biopsy of lesions detected by MRI.
MRI findings were reviewed by two breast-trained radiologists.
Key Results
Indications for MRI included screening (48% of women), staging (29%), and surveillance after malignant lumpectomy (9%).
MRI-guided biopsies were performed for 219 patients; 62.5% of lesions were benign, 19.6% were high-risk, and 18% were malignant.
The rate of false positive findings was 82.2%.
Malignant lesions were slightly more likely among older patients (odds ratio [OR], 1.05; P = .0015).
Irregularly shaped masses vs oval/round ones were over 11 times more likely to be malignant (OR, 11.2;
