Overuse Of MRI Leading To Unnecessary Breast Removal
Heavy use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be leading to unnecessary breast removal in older women with breast cancer, according to a new study. The research team tracked the use of breast MRI and surgical care of 72,461 female Medicare beneficiaries age 67-94 who were diagnosed with breast cancer during 2000 to 2009.The team found a considerable increase in the use of preoperative breast MRI over the study period from 1% in 2000-2001 to 25% in 2008-2009. The researchers also found that women who received an MRI were more likely to subsequently undergo more aggressive surgical treatment. In women who received mastectomy, 12.5% of those who had MRI received bilateral mastectomy, while only 4.1% of those who did not have MRI had bilateral mastectomy. read more