Age and Breast Density Dependence of Choline in Breasts of Healthy Female Subjects Found Using 3D-MRSI

Lenka Minarikova¹, Wolfgang Bogner¹, Marek Chmelik¹, Katja Pinker-Domenig¹, Hubert Bickel¹, Thomas Helbich¹, Siegfried Trattnig¹, Stephan Gruber¹

In previous studies, using single-voxel MR-spectroscopy or mutlivoxel MR-spectroscopy imaging (MRSI), choline signal with higher SNR was defined as a marker of malignancy in breast lesions. We present that choline signal can be detected using MRSI with high SNR in a large fraction of normal breast tissue and the SNR demonstrates an exponential correlation with breast density and age of the subject. Therefore, breast MRS-data from younger subjects with breast lesions should be interpreted with caution.