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When you arrive for your appointment, a member of your health care team will give you a gown and a robe to wear. You'll receive instructions on removing clothing and jewelry. If you have trouble being in a small, confined space, tell your doctor before your breast MRI. You may be given a mild sedative.
A contrast agent (dye) may be injected through an intravenous (IV) line in your arm to enhance the appearance of tissues or blood vessels on the MRI pictures.
The MRI machine has a large, central opening. During the breast MRI, you lie facedown on a padded scanning table. Your breasts fit into a hollow depression in the table, which contains coils that detect magnetic signals from the MRI machine. The entire table then slides into the opening of the machine.
The MRI machine creates a magnetic field around you, and radio waves are directed at your body. You won't feel the magnetic field or radio waves, but you may hear loud tapping and thumping sounds coming from inside the machine. Because of this, you may be given earplugs to wear.
During the test, the technologist monitors you from another room. You can speak to the technologist through a microphone. You'll be instructed to breathe normally but to lie as still as possible.
The breast MRI appointment may take 30 minutes to one hour.
- MRI of the breast. Radiology Info. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=breastmr. Accessed May 27, 2011.
- Philpotts LE. Comprehensive breast imaging 2010. Seminars in Roentgenology. 2011;46:7.
- Saslow D, et al. American Cancer Society guidelines for breast screening with MRI as an adjunct to mammography. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2007;57:75.
- Yau EJ, et al. The utility of breast MRI as a problem-solving tool. The Breast Journal. 2011;17:273.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 2, 2011.
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