Fat saturation in breast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI): comparison between DIXON and SPAIR techniques

Abstract

Introduction – Breast MRI with contrast injection is an indispensable tool for the characterization of breast lesions. To achieve this, good fat saturation is important in order to delimit the lesions. This study aims to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the fat saturation techniques in breast MRI, including SPAIR and Dixon techniques. Materials and methods – The study was performed in 1.5T MRI equipment and a specific breast coil was used. The study included an additional sequence with the Dixon fat saturation technique. Subsequently, the images obtained were analyzed and specifics ROI were placed in the lesion, mammary gland, adipose tissue and air, for both SPAIR and Dixon technique images. The obtained signal values were registered and, the SNR, CNR and uniformity of fat saturation were calculated for all mentioned structures. Results – It was found that the fat suppression technique Dixon quantitative and qualitative results are better than the technique SPAIR. Conclusions – From this study, the use of the Dixon technique for fat saturation is recommended in the dynamic study sequences with contrast agent, specifically in breast MRI studies.

Keywords

• imagem por ressonância magnética da mama, cancro da mama, saturação de gordura, Dixon.