Whole-body MRI (WB-MRI) versus axial skeleton MRI (AS-MRI) to detect and measure bone metastases in prostate cancer (PCa).
OBJECTIVE
To compare whole-body MRI (WB-MRI) and axial skeleton MRI (AS-MRI) in detecting and measuring bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer (PCa).


METHODS
WB-MRI and AS-MRI examinations were performed in 60 patients with PCa at high risk of metastases. Two radiologists separately categorised the AS-MRI and WB-MRI as negative or positive for metastases, and measured focal metastases using the "Response evaluation criteria in solid tumours" (RECIST) criteria transposed to bone. One radiologist reviewed all examinations 2 months later. Inter- and intraobserver agreements in establishing the presence/absence of metastases were calculated. Bland-Altman plots were used to assess measurement agreement between AS-MRI and WB-MRI.


RESULTS
Strong to perfect inter- and intraobserver agreements were found between AS-MRI and WB-MRI in defining the presence/absence of bone metastases. There were no patients with isolated "peripheral" metastases at WB-MRI, missed at AS-MRI. There was no difference in lesion count between the two radiologists. AS-MRI and WB-MRI provided statistically equivalent RECIST values for one radiologist and slightly lower values at AS-MRI for the other.


CONCLUSIONS
In our series of PCa patients, AS-MRI and WB-MRI were equivalent in determining the presence/absence of bone metastases and provided similar evaluation of the metastatic burden.
Lecouvet
F E
FE
Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Université Catholique de Louvain, Cliniques Universitaires St Luc, Hippocrate Avenue 10/2942, 1200, Brussels, Belgium. frederic.lecouvet@uclouvain.be
Simon
M
M
Tombal
B
B
Jamart
J
J
Vande Berg
B C
BC
Simoni
P
P
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*