What are whole-body MRIs, and are they worth the hype?
In recent years, celebrities like Kim Kardashian have taken to social media to tout the supposed benefits of whole-body MRI scans. Companies that offer the service promise that the scans can spot a range of conditions, including cancer, aneurysms, liver disease and multiple sclerosis, in as little as an hour. And if the initial scan looks clear, the companies encourage clients to return periodically to check up on their health status.
But are full-body MRIs really a silver bullet, or just another expensive health fad?
According to Dr. Matthew Davenport, a professor of radiology at the University of Michigan, for most people, whole-body MRI scans aren’t only unnecessary but can actually lead to their own set of problems.
Structural MRI scans visualize the inside of the body using magnetic fields and radio waves. Because they render detailed 3D images of internal anatomy, they’re useful for detecting various conditions, including blood clots, musculoskeletal injuries, tumors, and neurological or cardiovascular problems. But doctors normally order these scans only when they already suspect that something is wrong based on an individual’s symptoms, medical history and other test results.
In some circumstances, doctors may recommend regular whole-body MRIs for certain patients as a preventive measure, Davenport said. But this generally occurs only when patients are diagnosed with rare disorders that put them at high risk of developing cancer. Such conditions include Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a genetic disorder that increases the risk of developing cancer at a young age.
The idea is that the regular scans could spot lesions in these high-risk individuals, potentially flagging them for further testing. However, for people without such conditions, there’s little reason to get regular full-body MRIs, Davenport said.
“There is no scientific evidence that whole-body MRI in asymptomatic, average-risk patients improves health,” he told Live Science in an email.
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In fact, full-body MRIs may actually do more harm than good, he said. That’s because tests that can be used for diagnostics, like MRI scans, are likely to discover incidental findings.
Incidental findings are unexpected results that occur from a medical test ordered for a different reason. For example, a person might get an MRI of an injured rib and then have a suspicious mass pop up on the scan. Sometimes, these findings end up pointing to a previously undiagnosed condition that requires treatment. But more often, they’re just benign abnormalities in the body that pose no threat.
