Mammographically occult contralateral breast carcinoma detected by magnetic resonance imaging in the elderly

500 Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be able to detect clinically and mammographically occult contralateral breast carcinoma in 3.1% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (Lehman CD, et al. N Engl J Med 2007;356:1295–303). Breast cancer incidence has been shown to have a strong correlation with patient age. The incidence of mammographically occult contralateral breast cancer detected by MRI in women with newly diagnosed breast carcinoma in patients > 70 was assessed at our institution. Methods: Between 7/2003 and 07/2007, 159 women age > 70 with pathologically confirmed, newly diagnosed breast cancer were identified from an IRB approved MRI database. Patients noted to have a synchronous contralateral abnormality identified by MRI, but not evident on mammography or clinical examination, were reviewed. Those patients in which biopsy was recommended and performed were further analyzed to determine the incidence of pathologically diagnosed contralateral carcinoma. Results: The median age a...