Magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate.

Magnetic resonance imaging was utilized in 18 patients with prostatic cancer and compared with the findings in normal volunteers (Pontes et al., 1985), benign prostatic hyperplasia (Hricak et al., 1983), acute prostatitis (Walsh and Jewett, 1980) and chronic prostatitis (ACS, 1986). Sixteen of the 18 patients with carcinoma demonstrated inhomogeneous signal intensity, however, a similar appearance was also seen in 5 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. It does not appear that magnetic resonance imaging is able to reliably differentiate benign from malignant prostatic disease. Extra-prostatic tumor extension and pelvic adenopathy was demonstrated and the technique offers promise for the pre-operative staging of patients with known prostatic carcinomas.