RadioGraphics, Vol 14, 783-794, Copyright © 1994 by Radiological Society of North America

ARTICLES

MR imaging of breast implants

GA DeAngelis, EE de Lange, LR Miller and RF Morgan
Department of Radiology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908.

Magnetic resonance (MR) images of 57 implants in 32 women were reviewed for possible complications. Spin-echo T2-weighted MR imaging of one or both breasts was performed with dedicated breast coils in axial, coronal, and sagittal planes. At surgery in 19 patients, MR evaluation for rupture correlated in 17 cases (two false-negative ruptures). Implant ruptures were seen at surgery in 15 of the 19 patients. Nine ruptures involved single-lumen implants: Six were ruptured within the fibrous capsule that normally forms around the foreign implant (intracapsular rupture [two were seen only at surgery]), and three were ruptured beyond this fibrous capsule into the soft tissues (extracapsular rupture). Five ruptures involved double-lumen implants, in which only the outer lumen had ruptured, and one involved a single- lumen saline implant that had completely collapsed. Additional complications of capsule formation and infection were suggested in two implants, and infection was suggested in one. The MR imaging appearances of the various types of implants as well as their complications are presented.

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