{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T03:30:32Z","timestamp":1788233432570,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,12]],"date-time":"2025-06-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1749686400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Abbreviated breast MRI protocols have been proposed as a faster and more cost-effective alternative to standard full protocols for breast cancer detection. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of an abbreviated protocol with that of a full protocol in identifying lobular breast carcinoma using Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) classification. The diagnostic performance was evaluated against a gold standard comprising biopsy-proven lobular carcinoma or negative follow-up imaging, using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis and performance metrics such as sensitivity and specificity. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 35 breast MRI examinations performed between January 2019 and December 2021. Of these, 20 cases had biopsy-confirmed lobular carcinoma, and 15 were determined to be normal based on at least 12 months of negative follow-up imaging. Two radiologists independently reviewed the images using only the abbreviated protocol, blinded to the original reports. Their findings were then compared with the initial full-protocol MRI reports. BI-RADS categories 1 and 2 were considered negative for malignancy, while BI-RADS categories 3, 4, and 5 were considered positive. Results: The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 1.0 for the full protocol and 0.920 and 0.922 for Radiologists A and B, respectively, using the abbreviated protocol. All malignant lesions were correctly identified by both radiologists across both protocols, resulting in a sensitivity of 100%. However, the abbreviated protocol demonstrated significantly lower specificity (73.3% for Radiologist A and 53.5% for Radiologist B) compared to 100% specificity with the full protocol (p &lt; 0.05). Lymph node involvement was correctly identified in 6\u20137 of 7 cases, though Radiologist A reported four false positives. Lesion laterality and count matched histopathology in 75\u201390% of cancer cases depending on protocol. Lesion localization was accurate in 60\u201380% of cases using the abbreviated protocol, though size comparisons were limited due to the incomplete radiological documentation of dimensions. Conclusions: While the abbreviated MRI protocol achieved diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity comparably to the full protocol, it demonstrated reduced specificity. These findings suggest that abbreviated MRI breast protocol may be a viable screening tool, although the higher false-positive rate should be considered in clinical decision-making.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics15121497","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,12]],"date-time":"2025-06-12T06:42:48Z","timestamp":1749710568000},"page":"1497","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["The Diagnostic Accuracy of an Abbreviated vs. a Full MRI Breast Protocol in Detecting Breast Lobular Carcinoma: A Single-Center ROC Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7094-9287","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francis","family":"Zarb","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiography, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD2080 Msida, Malta"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deborah","family":"Mizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiography, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD2080 Msida, Malta"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Bezzina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiography, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD2080 Msida, Malta"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leanne","family":"Galea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiography, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD2080 Msida, Malta"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"151","article-title":"Epidemiological characteristics of and risk factors for breast cancer in the world","volume":"11","author":"Momenimovahed","year":"2019","journal-title":"Breast Cancer"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"\u0141ukasiewicz, S., Czeczelewski, M., Forma, A., Baj, J., Sitarz, R., and Stanis\u0142awek, A. 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