Staging prostate cancer with dynamic contrast-enhanced endorectal MR imaging prior to radical prostatectomy: experienced versus less experienced readers.

Purpose: To prospectively determine the accuracy of experienced and less experienced readers in the interpretation of combined T2-weighted fast spin-echo (SE) magnetic resonance (MR) images and dynamic contrast material-enhanced MR images compared with T2-weighted fast SE alone, with respect to differentiation of stage T2 versus stage T3 prostate carcinoma, with histologic analysis serving as the reference standard.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained, and 124 consecutive men (age range, 42-74 years; median age, 63 years) with biopsy-proved prostate cancer underwent MR imaging and were candidates for radical prostatectomy. T2-weighted fast SE MR images and multisection dynamic contrast-enhanced MR images with a 2-second time resolution for the whole prostate were obtained.

Prostate cancer: precision of integrating functional MR imaging with radiation therapy treatment by using fiducial gold markers.

The use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy for treatment of dominant intraprostatic lesions may require integration of functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with treatment-planning computed tomography (CT). The purpose of this study was to compare prospectively the landmark and iterative closest point methods for registration of CT and MR images of the prostate gland after placement of fiducial markers. The study was approved by the institutional ethics review board, and informed consent was obtained.

Optimal timing for in vivo 1H-MR spectroscopic imaging of the human prostate at 3T.

Proton MR spectroscopic imaging ((1)H-MRSI) of the human prostate, which has an interesting clinical potential, may be improved by increasing the magnetic field strength from 1.5T to 3T. Both theoretical and practical considerations are necessary to optimize the pulse timing for spectroscopic imaging of the human prostate at 3T.

Magnetic resonance-guided biopsies and localizations of the breast: initial experiences using an open breast coil and compatible intervention device.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a new commercially available open breast coil and compatible intervention device (Machnet) for magnetic resonance image (MRI)-guided breast interventions.

Materials And Methods: Breast lesions detected on MRI were evaluated using MRI-guided core biopsy (n = 20) and/or preoperative wire localization (n = 23) on histologic outcome and accuracy of localization. Time needed to perform a procedure and occurring problems were recorded.

Variability in the description of morphologic and contrast enhancement characteristics of breast lesions on magnetic resonance imaging.

Rationale And Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the interobserver variability in reporting descriptive kinetic and morphologic enhancement features at breast magnetic resonance imaging.

Materials And Methods: Four observers evaluated 103 lesions, 49 malignant and 54 benign, proven by histopathology. They used standardized terminology with the following characteristics: "early enhancement kinetics" and "late enhancement kinetics" in curves from both reader-determined and preset regions of interest (ROIs), "enhancement pattern," "shape," "margin," "internal enhancement," and a final assessment score.

Initial experience of 3 tesla endorectal coil magnetic resonance imaging and 1H-spectroscopic imaging of the prostate.

Rationale And Objectives: We sought to explore the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the prostate at 3T, with the knowledge of potential drawbacks of MRI at high field strengths.

Material And Method: MRI, dynamic MRI, and 1H-MR spectroscopic imaging were performed in 10 patients with prostate cancer on 1.5T and 3T whole-body scanners.

Urinary bladder cancer: preoperative nodal staging with ferumoxtran-10-enhanced MR imaging.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate ferumoxtran-10-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for nodal staging in patients with urinary bladder cancer.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-eight patients with proved bladder cancer were enrolled. Results of MR imaging performed before and after injection of ferumoxtran-10 were compared with histopathologic results in surgically removed lymph nodes.

Combined quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging and (1)H MR spectroscopic imaging of human prostate cancer.

Purpose: To differentiate prostate carcinoma from healthy peripheral zone and central gland using quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and two-dimensional (1)H MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) combined into one clinical protocol.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three prostate cancer patients were studied with a combined DCE-MRI and MRSI protocol. Cancer regions were localized by histopathology of whole mount sections after radical prostatectomy.

Cost-analysis of staging methods for lymph nodes in patients with prostate cancer: MRI with a lymph node-specific contrast agent compared to pelvic lymph node dissection or CT.

The aim of this study was to compare the costs of three strategies in patients with prostate cancer in a specific setting: firstly, a strategy including MR lymphography (MRL) in which pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is foregone in case of a negative result. The second strategy involves computed tomography (CT) followed by a biopsy or PLND. The third strategy consists of PLND without imaging beforehand.

Fast acquisition-weighted three-dimensional proton MR spectroscopic imaging of the human prostate.

The clinical application of 3D proton spectroscopic imaging (3D SI) of the human prostate requires a robust suppression of periprostatic lipid signal contamination, minimal intervoxel signal contamination, and the shortest possible measurement time. In this work, a weighted elliptical sampling of k-space, combined with k-space filtering and pulse repetition time (TR) reduction minimized lipid signals, intervoxel contamination, and measurement time. At 1.

The role of MRI in invasive lobular carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the value of MR imaging in the detection and measurement of tumor size in patients with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) compared to mammography and ultrasound.

Materials And Methods: From 36 cases of ILC in 34 patients who were surgically treated, the pre-operative imaging measurements, being mammography, ultrasound and contrast enhanced MR, were retrospectively re-evaluated for tumor detection and size. Findings were compared with pathology.

PET/CT: panacea, redundancy, or something in between?

In the past decade, the integration of anatomic imaging and functional imaging has emerged as a new and promising diagnostic tool. Developments in software provided methods to integrate various modalities, such as PET, CT, MRI, and MR spectroscopy. The introduction of combined PET/CT scanners has boosted image fusion in this specific field and raised high expectations.

Mycotic aneurysm of the popliteal artery as a complication of intravesical BCG therapy for superficial bladder cancer. Case report and literature review.

A 67-year-old man was treated with maintenance intravesical BCG for superficial bladder cancer. As a culture-proven complication of this therapy, he developed general malaise, high fever, granulomatous hepatitis and a mycotic aneurysm in his left knee. All complications were treated successfully with antituberculous therapy.

Differential effects of vascular endothelial growth factor A isoforms in a mouse brain metastasis model of human melanoma.

We reported previously that vascular endothelial growth factor isoform A (VEGF-A) expression by Mel57 human melanoma cells led to tumor progression in a murine brain metastasis model in an angiogenesis-independent fashion by dilation of co-opted, pre-existing vessels and concomitant enhanced blood supply (B. Kusters et al., Cancer Res.

Discrimination of prostate cancer from normal peripheral zone and central gland tissue by using dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging.

Purpose: To evaluate which parameters of dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and T2 relaxation rate would result in optimal discrimination of prostatic carcinoma from normal peripheral zone (PZ) and central gland (CG) tissues and to correlate these parameters with tumor stage, Gleason score, patient age, and tumor markers.

Materials And Methods: Of 58 patients with prostatic carcinoma, 36 were included for analysis. Patients underwent MR imaging at 1.

Method for quantitation of dynamic MRI contrast agent uptake in colorectal liver metastases.

Purpose: To investigate the reproducibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in colorectal liver metastases using a vascular normalization function (VNF) from pixels in the spleen and to compare this with a technique using an arterial input function (AIF) from pixels in the aorta.

Materials And Methods: DCE-MRI with gadolinium-DTPA (Gd-DTPA) was performed in patients with colorectal liver metastases. The VNF and AIF were determined using an automated algorithm.

Gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography of the pelvic arteries.

Rationale And Objectives: To evaluate 4 doses of gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) of the pelvic arteries and to compare CE-MRA with unenhanced time-of-flight MRA (2D-TOF-MRA).

Methods: A multicenter Phase II dose-finding study was performed in 136 patients with Gd-BOPTA doses of 0.025, 0.

Noninvasive detection of clinically occult lymph-node metastases in prostate cancer.

Background: Accurate detection of lymph-node metastases in prostate cancer is an essential component of the approach to treatment. We investigated whether highly lymphotropic superparamagnetic nanoparticles, which gain access to lymph nodes by means of interstitial-lymphatic fluid transport, could be used in conjunction with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to reveal small nodal metastases.

Methods: Eighty patients with presurgical clinical stage T1, T2, or T3 prostate cancer who underwent surgical lymph-node resection or biopsy were enrolled.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the main pulmonary artery: reliable assessment of dimensions in Marfan patients on a simple axial spin echo image.

Objective: To investigate if a simple axial spin echo (SE) image can be used for reliable assessment of pulmonary artery dimensions in patients with Marfan syndrome.

Methods: Fifty Marfan patients (mean age 33 +/- 10 years; 34 men, 16 women) and 15 normal subjects (mean age 28 +/- 4 years; nine men, six women) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pulmonary artery dimensions were obtained on axial SE images at two different levels: (1) the level of the pulmonary artery root, and (2) the level of the pulmonary artery bifurcation.

Vascular endothelial growth factor-A determines detectability of experimental melanoma brain metastasis in GD-DTPA-enhanced MRI.

We have previously shown that the dense vascular network in mouse brain allows for growth of human melanoma xenografts (Mel57) by co-option of preexisting vessels. Overexpression of recombinant vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) by such xenografts induced functional and morphologic alterations of preexisting vessels. We now describe the effects of VEGF-A expression on visualization of these brain tumors in mice by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), using gadolinium diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (Gd-DTPA) and ultra small paramagnetic iron oxide particles (USPIO) as contrast agents.

Gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced MR angiography of the abdominal aorta and renal arteries.

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the efficacy and safety of four different doses of gadobenate dimeglumine for contrast-enhanced three-dimensional MR angiography of the abdominal aorta and renal arteries.

Subjects And Methods: Ninety-four patients with suspected abnormality of the abdominal aorta or renal arteries underwent unenhanced three-dimensional gradient-recalled echo time-of-flight MR angiography and contrast-enhanced MR angiography after the IV injection of one of four doses of gadobenate dimeglumine (0.025, 0.

Local staging of prostate cancer using magnetic resonance imaging: a meta-analysis.

Our objective was to determine the influence of patient-, study design-, and imaging protocol characteristics on staging performance of MR imaging in prostate cancer. In an electronic literature search and review of bibliographies (January 1984 to May 2000) the articles selected included data on sensitivity and specificity for local staging. Subgroup analyses examined the influence of age, prostate specific antigen, tumor grade, hormonal pre-treatment, stage distribution, publication year, department of origin, verification bias, time between biopsy and MR imaging; consensus reading, study design, consecutive patients, sample size, histology preparation, imaging planes, fast spin echo, fat suppression, endorectal coil, field strength, resolution, glucagon, contrast agents, MR spectroscopy, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.

The value of single-shot black-blood MR imaging for mapping of the coronary arteries: a comparison of four different orientations during breath-holding and free breathing.

The value of ECG-gated single-shot black-blood MR imaging for rapid visualization of the origin and course of the coronary arteries was investigated. The study population included 28 patients with known or suspected cardiac disease. ECG-gated single-shot black-blood MR acquisitions were acquired in the transverse, coronal, sagittal and LAO orientations, during free breathing and breath-holding.