Martin D. Pickles1, Lindsay W. Turnbull1
1Centre for MR Investigations,
University of Hull, Hull, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Theoretically
breast MR examinations at 3.0T should be superior to 1.5T studies. However,
breast imaging on higher field strength systems also pose problems such as
larger chemical shift, susceptibility artefacts, B1 inhomogeneities and
increased T1 relaxation times. The aim of this work was to compare the
sensitivity and specificity achieved by a 3.0T MR breast screening programme
against the published results of screening studies at 1.5T. In conclusion the
diagnostic accuracy of MR breast screening at 3.0T does not seem to be
adversely effected by high field strength related artefacts and the results
are comparable to those published at 1.5T.