Breast MR for intraductal masses

Abstract

Unilateral, bloody or serous nipple discharge is associated with an increased risk of malignancy. The cancer risk is 5–28% and 3–35% for bloody and serous respectively. However, the most common tumor in patients presenting with this symptom is a benign intraductal papilloma with and incidence of 40–78% for bloody and 41–59% for serous [1]. While breast MR has been shown to be effective in demonstration of malignancy in women with nipple discharge symptoms, the diagnosis of intraductal masses often still requires galactography [2–4]. In this paper, MR methods are described that can accurately depict ductal anatomy for the improved differentiation of intraductal papillomas from malignancy.