Breast MRI


A diag­nos­tic breast MRI is used to image the breasts in more detail and is only done after a mam­mo­gram and some­times breast ultra­sound have been completed.

Prepar­ing for a Diag­nos­tic Breast MRI

When sched­ul­ing your pro­ce­dure, you will be asked a num­ber of ques­tions by the sched­uler per­tain­ing to:

  • any­thing that may or could be implant­ed in your body
  • any surg­eries that you may have had previously:
  • if you are diabetic
  • if you have have had any aller­gic reac­tions to med­ica­tions or med­ical imag­ing contrasts
  • the pos­si­bil­i­ty of pregnancy
  • the date of your last men­stru­al cycle

These are all impor­tant ques­tions that help the sched­uler in set­ting up the best appoint­ment time for you and are also used to screen you for any­thing that could be poten­tial­ly con­traindica­tive to putting you into the strong mag­net­ic field that is used in per­form­ing your MRI exam. The infor­ma­tion you give the sched­uler is kept con­fi­den­tial and becomes a part of your med­ical record. 

Unless you have already been diag­nosed with breast can­cer or are no longer of child-bear­ing age, your appoint­ment will be made so that it is per­formed between day five (5) and day ten (10) of your men­stru­al cycle to reduce the effects of cer­tain hor­mones which can cause the breast tis­sue to enhance cre­at­ing what is called a false pos­i­tive exam. 

Once you have been sched­uled, you will be asked to bring in any recent mam­mo­grams and breast ultra­sounds you have had if they were not per­formed at DuPage Med­ical Group. The radi­ol­o­gist will require these in order to make direct com­par­isons when read­ing your MRI. If you have not had a recent mam­mo­gram, you will be required to have one and it can be sched­uled for the same day as your MRI.

The MRI appoint­ment time will require about one (1) hour and the exam is always done of both breasts. A Diag­nos­tic Breast MRI requires the injec­tion of a con­trast mate­r­i­al through a vein in an arm and will neces­si­tate start­ing an IV. You will be instruct­ed to hydrate your­self by drink­ing plen­ty of flu­ids the day of your exam. You will also be instruct­ed to keep your­self well hydrat­ed after your exam has been com­plet­ed in order to flush the inject­ed con­trast mate­r­i­al com­plete­ly out of your sys­tem as it trav­els from your blood­stream into your kid­neys and then exits col­or­less­ly through your urine.

After you arrive:

  • You will be asked to review the screen­ing ques­tions asked dur­ing the sched­ul­ing process to make sure all answers are marked accurately.
  • You will also be asked to fill out a cou­ple of addi­tion­al forms that give both the tech­nol­o­gist per­form­ing the exam as well as the radi­ol­o­gist read­ing your exam spe­cif­ic details about you and your med­ical his­to­ry. This helps make your exam as accu­rate as possible. 
  • You will be asked to undress and will be giv­en a gown to wear with instruc­tions to put it on so that it opens in the front.
  • You will also be asked to remove any oth­er cloth­ing that con­tains met­al such as snaps or zip­pers as well as jew­el­ry and hair clips or pins, so it is rec­om­mend­ed that you wear com­fort­able clothing.
  • An IV will be start­ed in your arm in order to inject con­trast at the appro­pri­ate time.

Once the exam is com­plet­ed and the IV removed from your arm, you will be able to get dressed and go about your day as nor­mal, with no restrictions.

Prepar­ing for a Breast MRI for Implant Integrity

Breast MRI for Implant Integri­ty (sus­pect­ed rup­ture) are gen­er­al­ly only done for sil­i­cone implants. Leaks or rup­tures from a saline implant will even­tu­al­ly be absorbed by the body and can be diag­nosed with a phys­i­cal exam. If there is a pri­or fam­i­ly his­to­ry of breast can­cer or a per­son­al his­to­ry of breast can­cer, your exam will be done as a Diag­nos­tic Breast MRI.

When sched­ul­ing your pro­ce­dure, you will be asked a num­ber of ques­tions by the sched­uler per­tain­ing to any­thing that may or could be implant­ed in your body; any surg­eries that you may have had pre­vi­ous­ly; if you are dia­bet­ic or have had any aller­gic reac­tions to med­ica­tions or med­ical imag­ing con­trasts; the pos­si­bil­i­ty of preg­nan­cy and the date of your last men­stru­al cycle. These are all impor­tant ques­tions that help the sched­uler in set­ting up the best pos­si­ble appoint­ment time for you and are also used to screen you for any­thing that could be poten­tial­ly con­traindica­tive to putting you into the strong mag­net­ic field that is used in per­form­ing your MRI exam. The infor­ma­tion you give the sched­uler is kept con­fi­den­tial and becomes a part of your med­ical record. 

Once you have been sched­uled, you will be asked to bring in any recent mam­mo­grams and breast ultra­sounds you have had if they were not per­formed at DuPage Med­ical Group. The radi­ol­o­gist will require these in order to make direct com­par­isons when read­ing your MRI. If you have not had a recent mam­mo­gram, you may be required to have one and it may be sched­uled on the same day as your MRI.

The MRI appoint­ment time will require about one (1) hour and the exam is always done of both breasts. A Breast MRI for Implant Integri­ty does not require the injec­tion of a con­trast as the radi­ol­o­gist is look­ing for indi­ca­tions of any sub­tle sil­i­cone leaks into the breast tissue. 

After you arrive:

  • You will be asked to review the screen­ing ques­tions asked while your appoint­ment was being sched­uled to make sure all answers are marked accurately.
  • You will also be asked to fill out a cou­ple addi­tion­al forms that give both the tech­nol­o­gist per­form­ing the exam as well as the radi­ol­o­gist read­ing your exam spe­cif­ic details about you and your med­ical his­to­ry. This helps make your exam as accu­rate as possible. 
  • You will be asked to undress and will be giv­en a gown to wear with instruc­tions to put it on so that it opens in the front.
  • You will also be asked to remove any oth­er cloth­ing that con­tains met­al such as snaps or zip­pers as well as jew­el­ry and hair clips or pins.

Once the exam is com­plet­ed, you will be able to get dressed and go about your day as normal.