MRI useful and reliable in surgical planning of patients with rectal cancer

“Recently, MRI has been increasingly accepted by radiologists, surgeons and patients to image the rectum because of its superior soft tissue contrast and multi-planar capability,” said Chuanfu Li, MD, lead author of the study. “Most rectal MRI studies have used field strength of 1.5 Tesla or less.

Only two recent studies focus on 3T MRI for diagnosing and staging rectal cancer. “No standard protocol is available for 3T MRI of the rectum, which may cause inconsistent diagnostic accuracy among institutions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the image quality of various 3T MR sequences for preoperative staging and planning of sphincter sparing rectal cancer resection,” he said.

The study included 39 patients (23 men, 15 women), who underwent 3T MRI. According to the study, rectal carcinoma was identified on MRI and confirmed histologically in all 39 patients. The study showed that MRI findings correctly identified 31 of 32 resectable cases (96.9%), and sphincter-sparing approaches were accurately chosen on the basis of the MRI findings.

“In addition to accurate tumor staging, MRI contributes to surgical planning by showing the relationship of tumor to the sphincter and levator ani muscles on good quality coronal and sagittal images,” said Dr. Li. “This technique can give the surgeons a higher level of confidence and ,” he said.

The study appears in a recent issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Media Contact

Necoya Tyson EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.arrs.org

All latest news from the category: Medical Engineering

The development of medical equipment, products and technical procedures is characterized by high research and development costs in a variety of fields related to the study of human medicine.

innovations-report provides informative and stimulating reports and articles on topics ranging from imaging processes, cell and tissue techniques, optical techniques, implants, orthopedic aids, clinical and medical office equipment, dialysis systems and x-ray/radiation monitoring devices to endoscopy, ultrasound, surgical techniques, and dental materials.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors