confusing MRI results

[alleykatt]

I have received a MRI and read the results and I am more than concerned. It states I am Biraids IV and looks suspiciuos for cancer. I had another Mammo and ultasound yesterday and it shows nothing. They have recommended another MRI. I also had a surgical consult yesterday and he said everything looks normal. Should I feel confident waiting two weeks to do another MRI. What, if anything, should I do but wait?

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear alleykatt:  Did the surgeon see the MRI?  I am confused as to why the report says BIRAD 4 and the surgeon says everything looks normal.  The MRI is either normal or not.  If it is truly BIRAD 4 then why repeat?  If it is unclear, then repeating it may clarify the situation.

[alleykatt]

What does birad 4 mean? I am not sure if the surgeon saw the MRI report. I did not read it until we had left the clinic. What do you suggest I do.

[surgeon]

I'd suggest calling the surgeon's office and make sure that he/she was aware of the MRI report. I'd also wonder why it is you had the MRI? Was it the first thing done? If not, why would it have been done after a normal mammogram? The problem with MRI is that its role in evaluation of breast pathology is still a bit unclear: in general it's not used for screening in routine situations, but is used when there are reasons to feel mammography in a particular case would be compromised. MRI is still relatively new in breast evaluation, and what shows on it is still not as readily interpretable as that which shows on mammography. In my opinion, anyway.

[Chellesk]

Found this answer to your question in an old post where they replied to someone named Leslie:

Answer Posted By: CCF-RN,MSN-JS on Friday, August 08, 2003

Dear lesie, A birad rating of 4 means there is a suspicious area that should be evaluated further. We couldn't say whether this is cancerous or not only based on a mammogram result, the biopsy to look at the tissue under the microscope will be what answers the question.

[alleykatt]

Thank-you for responding. I had questionable results from a mammo and after spot compression views and a ultrasound they decided that there were no abnormalities. The MRI was done because the cancer center that I go to just got the machine in and wanted to do a MRI at no charge just to get their machine going so basically I was a test model.
I was told that MRI sometimes shows things that seem to be of concern and turn out to be ok.
I requested to go to a bigger city to have another opinion and the surgeon did a clinical exam and found nothing. He refered me for another mammo and ultrasound which revealed nothing but they want to repeat the MRI anyway.
Does this sound like the right approach?

[alleykatt]

Thank-you so much for looking up that response for me. I am so confused and scared rightnow that I can't even think straight. anyway Thank-you so much for your response.