Incidence of benign and malignant prostate tissue in biopsies of the bladder neck after a radical prostatectomy.

PURPOSE: We determined whether bladder neck sparing radical prostatectomy may leave prostate tissue in the unresected bladder neck.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

We intraoperatively evaluated the presence of prostate tissue in bladder neck biopsy specimens from 73 consecutive patients undergoing bladder neck sparing radical prostatectomy.

RESULTS

Of the 73 specimens 14 (19%) contained prostate tissue: 9 (12%) were positive for prostate cancer and 5 (7%) contained benign prostate tissue. All patients with a positive bladder neck biopsy had a positive margin at another site.

CONCLUSIONS

We recommend routine bladder neck biopsies for patients undergoing a bladder neck sparing procedure.