MRI of periprostatic venous plexus in staging of early prostatic carcinoma.

: The periprostatic venous plexus can be observed as a bright rim in coronal magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained by spin-echo (SE) 2060/60 technique. A carcinoma of the prostate which penetrates through the capsule into the periprostatic tissues interrupts or obliterates this rim, whereas an intact rim indicates that the tumor is confined within the prostatic capsule. One hundred patients with proven prostatic carcinoma were prospectively imaged by MR to detect periprostatic involvement. The results were compared with those obtained by cystoscopy and digital rectal examination under general anesthesia. The imaging and clinical methods agreed with each other in 76% of the patients.