• Wakako Kaneko Mikami, Toshiki Kazama, Hirotaka Sato, Hajime Yokota, Takashi Higashide, Takuro Horikoshi, Ken Motoori, Yukimasa Miyazawa, Takeshi Nagashima, and Takashi Uno.
• Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Radiation Oncology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana Chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan, wakako.k@hotmail.co.jp.
• Jpn J Radiol. 2013 Sep 1; 31 (9): 615-22.

PurposeTo compare two fat suppression methods in contrast-enhanced MR imaging of breast cancer at 3.0 T: the two-point Dixon method and the frequency selective inversion method.Materials And MethodsForty female patients with breast cancer underwent contrast-enhanced three-dimensional T1-weighted MR imaging at 3.0 T. Both the two-point Dixon method and the frequency selective inversion method were applied. Quantitative analyses of the residual fat signal-to-noise ratio and the contrast noise ratio (CNR) of lesion-to-breast parenchyma, lesion-to-fat, and parenchyma-to-fat were performed. Qualitative analyses of the uniformity of fat suppression, image contrast, and the visibility of breast lesions and axillary metastatic adenopathy were performed.ResultsThe signal-to-noise ratio was significantly lower in the two-point Dixon method (P < 0.001). All CNR values were significantly higher in the two-point Dixon method (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). According to qualitative analysis, both the uniformity of fat suppression and image contrast with the two-point Dixon method were significantly higher (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). Visibility of breast lesions and metastatic adenopathy was significantly better in the two-point Dixon method (P < 0.001 and P = 0.03, respectively).ConclusionThe two-point Dixon method suppressed the fat signal more potently and improved contrast and visibility of the breast lesions and axillary adenopathy.

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