Preoperative Prostate MRI Predictors of Urinary Continence Following Radical Prostatectomy

Background: Urinary continence after radical prostatectomy (RP) is an important determinant of patient quality of life. Anatomic measures at prostate MRI have been previously associated with continence outcomes, but their predictive ability and interrater agreement are unclear in comprehensive clinical models. Purpose: To evaluate the predictive ability and interrater agreement of MRI-based anatomic measurements of post-RP continence when combined with clinical multivariable models. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, continence outcomes were evaluated in men who underwent RP from August 2015 to October 2019. Preoperative MRI-based anatomic measures were obtained retrospectively by four abdominal -radiologists. Before participation, these radiologists completed measure-specific training. Logistic regression models were developed with clinical variables alone, MRI variables alone, and combined variables for predicting continence at 3, 6, and 12 months after RP; some patient data were missing at each time point. Interrater agreement of MRI variables was assessed by using intraclass-correlation coefficients (ICCs). Results: A total of 586 men were included (mean age 6 standard deviation: 63 years 6 7). The proportion of patients with incontinence was 0.2% (one of 589) at baseline, 27% (145 of 529) at 3 months, 14% (63 of 465) at 6 months, and 9% (37 of 425) at 12 months. Longer coronal membranous urethra length (MUL) improved the odds of post-RP continence at all time points (odds ratio per 1 mm: 0.86 [95% CI: 0.80, 0.93], P < .001; 0.86 [95% CI: 0.78, 0.95], P =.003; and 0.79 [95% CI: 0.67, 0.91], P =.002, respectively) in models that incorporated both clinical and MRI predictors. No other MRI variables were predictive. Age and baseline urinary function score were the only other predictive clinical variables at every time point. Interrater agreement was moderate (ICC, 0.62) for MUL among readers with measure-specific prostate MRI training and poor among those without the training (ICC, 0.38). Conclusion: Preoperative MRI-measured coronal membranous urethra length was an independent predictor of urinary continence after prostatectomy. (C) RSNA, 2022

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive ability and interrater agreement of MRI-based anatomic measurements, specifically the coronal membranous urethra length (MUL), for urinary continence after radical prostatectomy (RP). The study found that longer MUL was associated with improved continence outcomes after RP, while other MRI variables had no predictive ability. Age and baseline urinary function score were the only other predictive clinical variables. Interrater agreement of MRI variables was moderate among readers with specific training and poor among those without training.