EDITORIAL: Prostatic MR imaging in the dark
Abstract
Acta Radiologica 42 (2001) 347 Printed in Denmark ¡ All rights reserved Copyright C Acta Radiologica 2001 AC TA R A D I O L O G I C A ISSN 0284-1851 EDITORIAL Prostatic MR imaging in the dark MR imaging has been used for diagnosing prostate cancer since the early 1980s. The ï¬rst reports claimed that prostate cancer could be seen as focal areas of high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. These investigators used mid- and low-ï¬eld strength magnets and body coils, and their impression was probably coloured by the great enthusiasm for this exciting new technique. In the mid-1980s, when high-ï¬eld strength T2-weighted MR imaging could show the prostate zonal anatomy using body coil, it was realised that most prostate cancers present as low-intensity lesions within the bright peripheral zone. During the late 1980s, several investigators evaluated the ability of MR imaging in staging known prostate cancer. Despite the use of body coils, the results were surprisingly optimistic, giving accuracies in the range of about 80â90%. In the early 1990s, optimism turned into disappointment, as several (more realistic?) reports appeared showing a rather low accuracy for body coil MR imaging in depicting extracapsular tumour extension. The