Full body MRI in Milan, what it costs and what it finds

What a scan costs in Milan

Centro Diagnostico Italiano charges €1,200 for its total body MRI. The price covers the scan and two consultations with its doctors, and the report takes about a week [1]. The scan runs from the head to the knees, covering the brain, neck, spine, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and extends to the feet only when the first assessment gives a reason. It uses no radiation and no contrast, and the visit takes about an hour [1]. The centre says the scan suits healthy adults as well as people at higher risk because of family history, lifestyle or age, and it takes 20% to 50% off any further private tests the scan leads to [1].

Ospedale San Raffaele prices its Full Body Scan from €2,500, and the scan itself takes 30 to 35 minutes [2]. The unit has a 3 Tesla scanner, and the hospital offers a full blood check-up and specialist visits alongside the scan [2]. Il Giorno reported the price in February 2025 as €2,500 and upward [3].

The European Institute of Oncology, known as IEO, first used whole body diffusion MRI in 2009 for cancer patients at high risk of hidden spread. Its own page says it now offers the scan to healthy people who want a screening scan of the whole body. The scan takes about 35 minutes, without radiation or contrast, and the page shows no price [4].

Do you need a prescription

We found no official Italian page saying that a private scan needs a prescription, so ask the centre what it needs from you before you book. At Centro Diagnostico Italiano an internist prescribes the scan after a first meeting [1]. San Raffaele lets you book the scan online through its digital services [2].

If you have symptoms, see a doctor first, because a scan chosen for a symptom is planned differently. Tell the centre in advance about a pacemaker, any metal implant or a pregnancy. Centro Diagnostico Italiano does not advise the screening scan during pregnancy [1].

What a scan finds, and what it misses

A whole body scan finds a great deal, and most of it is harmless. A review of 12 studies of 5,373 people without symptoms found that 32.1% had a finding a radiologist would call critical or uncertain. In the six studies that checked, 16.0% of findings proved to be false alarms [5].

Serious findings are less common. A review in the BMJ of 32 studies and 27,643 adults found a potentially serious finding in 3.9% of brain and body scans, and in 12.8% once uncertain findings were counted. About half of the potentially serious findings were suspected cancers. Of 234 such findings that were followed up, 48 proved serious [6].

A newer review in European Radiology pooled 10 studies of 9,024 people without symptoms and found a confirmed cancer in 1.57% of them. Its authors concluded that modest detection rates, frequent incidental findings and a lack of long term outcome data limit the scan's clinical use for now [7].

Who it suits, and who should wait

A scan suits someone who wants a baseline, expects that something will probably be found, and has a doctor who will decide calmly what to follow up. It suits less well someone who would worry for weeks over a small cyst, or who has no one to explain the report.

If you are uneasy in enclosed spaces, ask how wide the scanner is. Centro Diagnostico Italiano describes its scanner as 70 cm across and 1.5 metres long [1].

Keep up the screening your region offers. No study in the review above followed people long enough to show that a whole body scan can replace a mammogram, a cervical screening test or a stool test [7].

Five questions to ask before you book

The answers tell you what you are paying for, more than the name of the scan.

• Which parts of my body does the scan cover, and which does it leave out?
• Does the price include a consultation before the scan and another after the report?
• Who reports the scan, and how soon will I have the report?
• If something is found, who arranges the next test, and what does it cost?
• Does my health fund or insurer have an agreement with the centre?

Appointments in Milan

Our full body MRI in Milan costs from €2,750. Anyone can request an appointment in Milan now.