Local staging of prostate carcinoma with endorectal surface MR imaging

Although investigators have shown that use of an endorectal surface coil improved the resolution of MR imaging of the prostate, they have not proved the clinical utility of this technique. The authors used endorectal surface-coil MR imaging to examine the patterns of growth and the MR characteristics of biopsy-proved prostate carcinoma in 49 patients. In a subgroup of 21 of these patients who underwent radical prostatectomy, surgical confirmation of the MR staging was available. The surface-coil images revealed the extent of malignancies in more detail than did the body-coil images. Prospective staging with endorectal surface-coil MR imaging agreed with the surgical stage in 18 of 21 cases