A ^Retired Plastic Surgeon's Notebook

MRI of a breast with a breast implant

Seattle Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder feels very lucky to be just down the street from First Hill Imaging and their awesome expertise with breast MRI.

Today I got a question from a lady regarding mammograms, breast implants and breast cancer.  She had 20 + year old implants and they had become increasingly firm and it was difficult for her mammographer to get a good image.  She had a family history of breast cancer and she was afraid of missing an early diagnosis if she were to develop breast cancer herself.

I recommended that she have an enhanced breast MRI which is very, very sensitive in diagnosing breast cancer, even when implants make the breast firm and difficult to examine. 

Dr. Bruce Porter at First Hill Imaging in Seattle was one of the radiologists who explored this technology back in the 90’s.  I remember attending one of his lectures where he showed MRI images that were just amazing in their detail and accuracy.  And that was about 10 years ago.  It’s even more amazing now.

In most cases, implants do not interfere much with mammograms, especially if the implants are placed under the pectoralis muscle.  But if they do, it is so comforting to have First Hill Imaging and Dr. Porter and his colleagues within walking distance for my Seattle patients.

Thanks for reading!  Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder

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