Coil Artifact on Breast MRI

IMAGING FINDINGS: ​​

Sagittal fat saturated T1-weighted image (A.) demonstrates poor fat saturation due to coil artifact in the superior left breast. The breast is positioned poorly with too much of the abdomen included in the coil, forcing the superior breast to touch the coil.  After the patient is re-positioned with the breast centered in the coil (B.), there is no longer coil artifact. 
 
WHY IT MATTERS:

1. Poor positioning of a patient within the breast MRI coil can lead to a decoupling or coil artifact. If the coil is touching the breast it leads to poor fat saturation.
2. Recognizing common breast MRI artifacts is essential to performing high quality imaging.

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FURTHER READING:
Breast MR Imaging Artifacts: How to Recognize and Fix Them (RadioGraphics 2007)