MR imaging of the prostate at 3 Tesla: Comparison of an external phased-array coil to imaging with an endorectal coil at 1.5 Tesla

Rationale and Objectives. To qualitatively compare the image quality of torso phased-array 3-Tesla (3T) imaging of the prostate with that of endorectal 1.5-Tesla imaging. Materials and Methods. Twenty cases of torso phased-array prostate imaging performed at 3-Tesla with FSE T2 weighted images were evaluated by two readers independently for visualization of the posterior border (PB), seminal vesicles (SV), neurovascular bundles (NVB), and image quality rating (IQR). Studies were performed at large fields of view (FOV) (25 cm) (14 cases) (3TL) and smaller FOV (14 cm) (19 cases) (3TS). A comparison was made to 20 consecutive cases of 1.5-T endorectal evaluation performed during the same time period. Results. 3TL produced a significantly better image quality compared with the small FOV for PB (P = .0001), SV (P = .0001), and IQR (P =.0001). There was a marginally significant difference within the NVB category (P = .0535). 3TL produced an image of similar quality to image quality at 1.5T for PB (P = .3893), SV (P = .8680), NB (P = .2684), and IQR (P = .8599). Conclusion. Prostate image quality at 3T with a torso phased-array coil can be comparable with that of endorectal 1.5-T imaging. These findings suggest that additional options are now available for magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate gland.