Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography in T-staging of bladder cancer

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in 17 patients with bladder cancer and, in 12 of these, was compared to computed tomography (CT). Special attention was paid to the ability of MRI to diagnose muscle wall invasion. Out of seven patients, five were accurately diagnosed as having muscle invasion, while two patients were overstaged. Equivocal results of MRI with regard to muscle invasion in four patients histologically negative for this feature were due to a poor signal-to-noise ratio. Infiltration into neighbouring organs was accurately displayed by MRI in two patients, whereas CT had failed to demonstrate this. MRI detected more tumors than CT and accurately excluded muscle invasion in 12 out of 13 tumors.