Pitfalls in multiparametric prostate mri

Abstract

Multiparameter magnetic resonance imaging (RMmp) of the prostate has had an important development in recent years given the high prevalence of prostate cancer and the need to have specific imaging information for the correct management of urological patients. Other imaging techniques provide partial information about the morphology of the prostate, but it is the mp-MRI of the prostate that gives us more information, through morphological and functional sequences, to detect clinically significant lesions and reduce the number of biopsies, predict risk of aggressiveness of the tumors, local staging and help the urologist to perform cognitive biopsies or by MR/ US fusion. This article aims to show representative cases of frequent errors when reporting an MRI of the prostate. We give some recommendations to avoid these errors and improve radiological reports. It is common to start making mp-MRI of the prostate reports having doubts about the correct interpretation of the findings. We offer through this article representative images of the main errors in the search for neoplastic pathology and some suggestions to avoid them. From the academic point of view they can be divided into pitfalls of anatomical conditions and benign pathologies that can simulate a tumor. In the case of anatomical pitfalls, we show cases related to the hypertrophic anterior fibromuscular stroma, thickened surgical capsule, peri-prostatic venous plexus, neurovascular complex and posterior pseudo-injury in the peripheral area. Among the benign conditions is benign prostatic hyperplasia, inflammatory/ infectious processes and other conditions that can simulate tumor. Regarding pitfalls related to benign prostatic hyperplasia, we can indicate hyperplasia of the transition/ central zone (“mustache-sign”), stromal proliferation in the transition zone and ectopic or extruded adenomatous nodules in the peripheral zone. Inflammatory/ infectious pitfalls correspond to cases of focal prostatitis, acute prostatitis, prostatitis with abscesses and granulomatous prostatitis. Other frequent errors of difficulty in interpretation correspond to cases of calcifications and hemorrhage.