We recommend an annual mammogram every year after you turn 40 years old, but what is a breast MRI and why is it important?

A mammogram is an x-ray of your breast. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast — or breast MRI —uses a computer to combine multiple images taken of the breast tissue to generate a more detailed picture.

We usually perform a breast MRI when your doctor needs more information than a mammogram, ultrasound or clinical breast exam can provide. In certain situations, such as when a woman has a very high risk of breast cancer, breast MRI may be used as a screening tool for detecting breast cancer.  We also use an MRI to spot a possible implant rupture. Your doctor may recommend a breast MRI if:

• You’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer and your doctor wants to determine the extent of the cancer
• Your doctor finds a suspicious area on your mammogram
• You or your doctor can feel a mass or other lump in your breast, but it’s not detectable on mammogram or ultrasound
• Your doctor wants to monitor your opposite breast after you’ve been newly diagnosed or treated for breast cancer in the other breast
• You have very dense breast tissue and your prior breast cancer wasn’t detected on mammogram

Charleston Breast Center even has a new “pink” MRI machine that has already detected cancers unseen by mammogram.

A breast MRI is most effective when used in addition to a mammogram or another breast-imaging test — not as a replacement for a mammogram. Although it’s a very sensitive test, breast MRI can still miss some breast cancers that a mammogram will detect. It’s just one more tool we use to keep you healthy.