Diagnostic performance of initial enhancement analysis using ultra-fast dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for breast lesions

ObjectivesTo assess the diagnostic value and contribution to BI-RADS categorisation of initial enhancement on ultra-fast DCE-MRI for differentiating malignant and benign breast lesions.MethodsThe institutional review board approved this study, and written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Both ultra-fast DCE-MRI for initial enhancement analysis and conventional MRI were performed on 200 subjects with a total of 215 lesions (147 malignant and 68 benign). BI-RADS categorisation of enhancing lesions was performed using the conventional MRI. Two initial enhancement measures, time to enhancement (TTE) and maximum slope (MS), were derived from the ultra-fast DCE-MRI. Diagnostic performance and the additional diagnostic value of adding TTE and MS to BI-RADS were evaluated.ResultsBoth TTE and MS showed significant differences between malignant and benign breast lesions in masses (TTE, p <.001; MS, p = .006) and non-mass enhancement (NME) (TTE, p <.001; MS, p <.001). For masses, the AUC of TTE+MS combined with BI-RADS (0.864) was better than BI-RADS alone (0.823, p = .065). For NME, the AUC of TTE+MS combined with BI-RADS (0.923) was significantly larger than BI-RADS alone (0.865, p = .036), and diagnostic specificity improved by 40.9% (p = .005), without a significant decrease in the sensitivity (p = .083).ConclusionInitial enhancement analysis using ultra-fast DCE-MRI is especially useful for increasing the diagnostic performance of NME in breast MRI.Key Points center dot Ultra-fast dynamic MRI effectively differentiates benign from malignant breast lesions.center dot Ultra-fast dynamic MRI contributes to BI-RADS categorisation in non-mass enhancement.center dot Management of non-mass breast lesions becomes more appropriate.