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prostrate mri?

PeterA
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hello all

i have just been through all the early stages of having a monitored psa level and undergoing having biopsies taken last year in the normal way without anaesthectic , my latest psa had doubled and i was sent for a mri and now am going to have a targeted biopsy under general anaesthectic , i have done some research and have discovered that the latest multi papametric mri with 3 d fusion biopsies seem to be a much more accurate procedure, im at a loss to no if the scan i had was the new multi parametric scan or not! unfortunately my consultant has been less than condusive when it has come to explaining things to me and i have requested i be refered to another consultant ,in the mean time i was wondering if any one on this forum could shed any light on this subject? i did google who has this new type of scan and it appears QA at Portsmouth does! the scan i had was in what looked like a very old scanner and naturaly i am concerned that yet again the biopsies im going to endure will end up like the first ones i had , not actualy finding the offending cancer assuming there is any? the first biopsies resulted in me contracting sepsis and a horrific night mare stay in hospital to boot, needless to say im also concerned that i have yet another repeat of this horrific experience , thanks all ,hope someone can give some info on this subject.

 

  • Offline

    Hi arthurpeter

    Welcome to the forum at this stressful time. I've been through the prostate cancer mill myself so I know what it's like. I'm not a doctor nor any type of medical worker. I do, however, take a geeky interest in how machines such as CT and MRI scanners actually work. 

    I think it's almost certain that you would have had the new type of multiparametirc scan. The traditional T1 and T2 wieghted scans aren't particularly helpful for early stage prostate cancer. My own MRI in 2010 was taken after a positive biopsy using a brand new 1.5T machine. It revealed no useful information other than an intact prostate with no discernable internal features. In its way, this was quite reassuring as it implied my cancer was small and early. 

    In a practical MRI machine, the different types of scans are done by varying the timing and power of the RF pulses and magnetic field gradients. In other words, the same hardware is driven in different ways, all under the control of a computer, to produce different scan types. So, in principle at least, it should be possible to upgrade an older machine simply by putting new software in the computer, and possibly replacing and upgrading individual hardware components. I would imagine this is a lot cheaper than ripping out old machines and installing new ones, but whether it's done in practice I can't confirm. Such information is no doubt common knowledge in the radiographic community, but doesn't seem to find its way onto the net. 

    Unfortunately, your experience with biopsy is all too common.  I had zero side effects from mine, whereas a friend who had a biopsy some months later had a raging infection after a few days. All I can suggest is to be sure to take the supplied antibiotics on a regular schedule, and keep the hospital's phone number on speed dial!  

  • Offline in reply to telemando
    thank you for taking the time to answer my post, hopefully I will get some answers on my visit this Monday prior to my general anaesthetic and biopsy .
  • Offline in reply to PeterA

    I hope your procedure goes well, you have no side effects, and the results are clear. 

    But I would imagine if you do have cancer, then like mine it's going to be caught nice and early. A radical prostatectomy is no fun, but I got over mine and I'm getting on with life. 

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