(WHTM) -- For women with dense breasts, an MRI can be used as a screening tool for cancer. However, the process takes about 45 minutes, which can deter some from getting one.
If you've had the longer version of an MRI, you may now qualify for another option and UPMC says it's one of the first in the area to offer it.
"Now we are offering abbreviated breast MRI, which is a 15-minute exam so it's better tolerated by the patients. It's a more comfortable exam and we're using it as a supplemental screening study along with mammograms. In a certain subset of women we know breast MRI is the most sensitive tool we have in radiology in detecting breast cancers," said Dr. Neeti Goel, a radiologist at UPMC in Central Pa.
Meantime, the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition is working to get a bill passed in the state legislature, with bipartisan support, that would make MRIs and other testing free to women who qualify.
The bill already passed the senate unanimously and now awaits action in the house.
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