Use of Dixon technique in breast contrast-enhanced T1WI for post-mastectomy patients at 3T

For patients with breast lesion resection, conventional contrast enhanced T1WI images with SPAIR provides poor fat suppression in the post-mastectomy breasts side due to the uneven skin surface, inhomogeneous tissues environment, and the frequency-selective feature of SPAIR scheme. Our study aimed to investigate the performance of fat suppression with the Dixon method in single side post-mastectomy patients. Subjective and objective evaluation suggested the Dixon method is superior to conventional SPAIR fat suppression in depicting the bilateral breast. Dixon method provided better image uniformity and higher fat suppression efficiency, and showed significant advantages in delineating the anatomical structures, with better axillary and lesion visibilities, especially in the completely removed breast side.