Breast MRIs hospital's latest tool in breast cancer diagnosis - McComb Enterprise Journal

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Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center has a new weapon in its arsenal in the fight against breast cancer — breast MRIs. 

The technology is ideal for patients with a higher risk of developing breast cancer due to age, breast density, genetics, a history of cancer and radiation treatment and first-degree relatives — such as their mother or sister — who have battled the disease. 

“If you have a family history or certain things like that the breast MRI will be beneficial to you,” said hospital radiology director Brent Albritton. “High-risk patients is what this is for. And your insurance will cover it.”

Qualifying patients will still receive mammographys before getting a breast MRI, Albritton said, calling the technology more effective in spotting cancers that might be more difficult to detect or in the early stages of development. 

“The mammo is good, the MRI is better,” he said. 

“Mammography is great but it doesn’t pick up everything,” radiologist Lindsey Allen said. “I think it’s important to note breast MRI is not a replacement for mammography. We use them in conjunction with each other.”

Albritton said the new technology came to the hospital about eight months ago when Southwest upgraded its MRI components and software. 

MRIs use coils that are placed on different parts of the body to be read. The breast MRI exam has a set of coils that require the patient to lie on their stomach and her breasts fall into the coil. 

While mammograms are notorious for their level of discomfort, the MRI isn’t painful, Allen said.  

“You’re going to be laying on your belly for about 30 minutes. It’s not going to be a fun exam but it’s not ongoing to be painful either,” she said. 

“We’ve not heard any complaints from the patient that it as unbearable or anything like that,” Albritton added. 

MRIs also use an injectable dye called gadolinium contrast that help improve imaging and by extension diagnoses. The dye usually stays in the body for about 24 hours before being flushed out. 

Allen said breast MRIs are especially helpful in detecting ductal carcinoma in situ, an early stage of breast cancer that hasn’t spread beyond the milk ducts and become invasive. If detected early, treatment can be very effective 

“You want to find it before it’s invasive. It’s easier to treat,” she said. 

And in the case of ductal carcinoma in situ — DCIS for short — breast MRIs can make a significant difference in a patient’s outcome in their breast cancer fight. 

“They catch the DCIS right there. If not they would have been a year out when they had the next mammogram,” Albritton said. 

Not every patient will qualify for a breast MRI,  Allen said. 

“If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer before having surgery or treatment, it’s good to have a breast MRI because they can tell the extent of the disease. If they have a first-degree relative like a mother or sister who had breast cancer, then they should qualify as well.”

Other risk factors include the gene mutation BRCA1 and BRCA2 that increases the risk of breast cancer. 

Radiology officials said they had three breast MRIs scheduled for this week. 

Southwest is the only hospital in the region to offer breast MRIs, and Albritton said that will keep patients from having to drive at least an hour away to bigger cities to receive the same technology. 

The hospital is making a big push to market the new service. 

“There’s a large surrounding area that we can pull from once we get the word out,” Albritton said. 

Patients have to undergo an extensive questionnaire before they can use an MRI since the machine is essentially a super strong magnet that can furiously suck in a wheelchair oxygen tank or anything else magnetic. 

“There’s a lot of screening process to get in an MRI,” Albritton said. 

People with old pacemakers and pacemaker leads and some older metal remnants of previous operations won’t be able to get an MRI, he noted. 

With the addition of the MRI technology, the hospital’s imaging abilities are complete, Albritton said. 

“We can do breast MRI biopsies, 3-D biopsies,” he said. “We have all of the breast imaging. We want to make hospital a female friendly one stop shop.” 

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