title: Feasibility and safety of silicone rubber contrast-enhanced microcomputed tomography in evaluating the angioarchitecture of prostatectomy specimens.
abstract: This ethics committee-approved pilot study was carried out with informed consent. A protocol was developed to assess the feasibility of in vitro Microfil injection of prostate cancer specimens followed by analysis with micro-computed tomography (microCT) to characterize the functional vascularity of prostatic tissue and evaluate its safety with respect to the preservation of a specimen for pathologic examination. The visible prostatic arteries of two surgically resected prostates frompatients with known prostate cancer (PCa) were injected with MicrofilMV-122 contrast medium immediately after removal. The specimens were scanned using microCT and were qualitatively examined using three-dimensional analysis software (MicroView; GE Healthcare Biosciences). The Microfil perfusion in the two samples was sufficient to view the functional vascularity arising from a major prostatic artery, up to a resolution of 17.626 µm without any indication of adverse effects due to Microfil injection. Malignant prostatic regions showed a greater vascular density on histology but decreased vascular perfusion compared with benign prostatic regions. The use of microCT on Microfil-injected prostates seems to be a feasible and specimen-preserving method for visualizing the three-dimensional vessel patterns present in resected human prostates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Alex K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Atri
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sugar
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Klotz