Diagnostic imaging of breast implants: role of MRI

The role of MRI in the evaluation of breast implants, based on the observations collected over a 2-year period at the "Istituto di Radiologia" of the "Università Cattolica del S. Cuore" of Rome, is reported. In women with breast implants both mammography and sonography have a lower diagnostic accuracy in the evaluation of the glandular parenchyma. At present, MRI plays a primary role in patients with breast implants for the diagnosis of rupture. Based on the international literature its sensitivity is 90-95% and the specificity is 95-100%. Therefore, it can be considered the gold standard procedure in the diagnosis of locoregional recurrence. In spite of the excellent sensitivity and specificity of MRI in the evaluation of patients with breast implants, the integration with information from clinical examinations and conventional imaging is required together with an exhaustive knowledge of this method whose development is still in progress.