Follow-up Frequency and Compliance in Women with Probably Benign Findings on Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Rationale and Objectives: Six-month short-interval follow-up is recommended for probably benign findings on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We wanted to examine patient adherence to follow-up recommendation for Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) category 3 lesions at a tertiary care medical center. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of frequency and adherence rates to follow-up recommendation for women with an initial BI-RADS 3 breast MRI between 2005 and 2007. Results: A total of 132 women with BI-RADS 3 breast MRI recommendations were included. Ninety-six of 132 (72.7%) women adhered to the first follow-up recommendation or elected to have tissue diagnosis; 78/132 (59.1%) had follow-up MRI and 18/132 (13.6%) had tissue diagnosis. Thirty-six of 132 (27.3%) women did not return for follow-up. Nine of nine (100%) of BRCA carriers returned for follow-up or had tissue diagnosis, compared to 87/123 (70.7%) of non-BRCA carriers. A total of 35/41 (85.4%) of patients with a prior history of breast cancer returned for follow-up or had tissue diagnosis, compared to 61/91 (67%) of patients without a history of breast cancer. Only 5/15 (33%) of patients undergoing MRI for symptom alone adhered to follow-up recommendations. Conclusion: Adherence to BI-RADS category 3 follow-up recommendation is often low. Women with a history of breast cancer or who were BRCA carriers were significantly more likely to adhere to follow-up recommendation than women without a history of breast cancer or women undergoing MRI for symptoms alone. Strategies to improve adherence should be developed.