Breast MRI enhancement curves
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Weerakkody Y, Murphy A, Ashraf A, et al. Breast MRI enhancement curves. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 07 Jan 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-13886
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13886
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Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.
View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Andrew Murphy had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Andrew Murphy's current disclosures
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Synonyms:
- Breast MRI enhancement kinetics
- MRI enhancement pattern on breast lesions
- Kuhl enhancement curves
- Time intensity curves on breast MRI
Following administration of gadolinium, there can be three possible enhancement (time intensity) kinetic curves for a lesion on breast MRI (these are also applied in other organs such as prostate MRI). These are sometimes termed the Kuhl enhancement curves.
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type I curve: progressive or persistent enhancement pattern
- typically shows a continuous increase in signal intensity throughout time
- usually considered benign with only a small proportion of (~9%) of malignant lesions having this pattern
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type II curve: plateau pattern
- initial uptake followed by the plateau phase towards the latter part of the study
- considered concerning for malignancy
-
type III curve: washout pattern
- has a relatively rapid uptake shows reduction in enhancement towards the latter part of the study
- considered strongly suggestive of malignancy
References
- 1. Moon M, Cornfeld D, Weinreb J. Dynamic contrast-enhanced breast MR imaging. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am. 2009;17 (2): 351-62. doi:10.1016/j.mric.2009.01.010 - Pubmed citation
- 2. Macura KJ, Ouwerkerk R, Jacobs MA et-al. Patterns of enhancement on breast MR images: interpretation and imaging pitfalls. Radiographics. 26 (6): 1719-34. doi:10.1148/rg.266065025 - Pubmed citation
- 3. Kuhl C. The current status of breast MR imaging. Part I. Choice of technique, image interpretation, diagnostic accuracy, and transfer to clinical practice. Radiology. 2007;244 (2): 356-78. doi:10.1148/radiol.2442051620 - Pubmed citation
- 4. Kuhl CK. Current status of breast MR imaging. Part 2. Clinical applications. Radiology. 2007;244 (3): 672-91. doi:10.1148/radiol.2443051661 - Pubmed citation
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