A different look at breast magnetic resonance imaging from a cost-effectiveness perspective

Introduction and Purpose There are many diseases related to the breast, especially infectious, autoimmune and mass diseases. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the 2nd most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Imaging methods are very important in both diagnosis and screening of breast diseases due to the frequency of cancer in women. Cost-effectiveness is of great importance when choosing imaging methods due to reasons such as targeting large populations in screening methods and ensuring continuity in increasing health expenditures. Materials and Methods Our study includes patients who underwent breast MRI between 01.01.2020 and 01.01.2022. MRI reports were compared with previous mammography and ultrasound reports. Patients for whom MRI did not provide additional benefit for diagnosis were identified along with the reasons for the scan. The costs of unnecessary scans were calculated based on the unit prices of the health practice circular. Results Our study consists of 497 female patients aged between 16-87 years, with an mean age of 46.46±12.04 years, and 2 male patients aged between 58-64 years, with an mean age of 61±4.24 years. When the BI-RADS results obtained from the patients' previous US and Mammography results were compared with the BI-RADS grades after breast MRI, it was determined that 321 (64.3%) of 499 patients could be diagnosed without breast MRI, and breast MRI did not cause any change in the approach to the patient and treatment. Discussion and Conclusion Since breast MRI is an expensive and hard-to-reach examination today, it is of great importance to pay attention to cost-effectiveness when determining patients to have MRI. Since there is no limiting factor for physicians in our study, there are significant financial losses due to unnecessary breast MRIs. If physicians comply with the BI-RADS dictionary regarding breast MRI use, the number of scans will be reduced. This will also reduce the cost of unnecessary scans, unnecessary labor, and spare parts costs.