MR spectroscopy of the human prostate using surface coil at 3 T: metabolite ratios, age-dependent effects, and diagnostic possibilities

Purpose:

To measure prostate spectra of healthy volunteers using a surface coil, to demonstrate age‐dependent effects, and to investigate diagnostic possibilities for prostate cancer detection.

Materials and Methods:

Single‐voxel and 2D magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) spectra of 51 healthy volunteers with biopsy‐proven prostate carcinoma of 20 patients for comparison were measured and processed using the LCModel. The mean normalized spectra and mean metabolite‐to‐citrate intensity ratios were computed.

Results:

Metabolite‐to‐citrate ratios of healthy volunteers were lower in the older group (>51 years) than in the younger group (<45 years). The peripheral zone (PZ) revealed a lower metabolite‐to‐citrate intensity ratio than the central gland (CG). Age‐related differences in metabolite‐to‐citrate ratio were insignificant in the voxels with predominantly CG tissue, whereas significant differences were found in the PZ. Sensitivity in detecting prostate cancer by single‐voxel spectroscopy (SVS) and 2D MRSI was 75% and 80%, respectively.

Conclusion:

SVS and 2D MRSI of the prostate at 3 T, using a surface coil, are useful in situations when insertion of the endorectal coil into the rectum is difficult or impossible. Our findings of age‐dependent effects may be of importance for the analysis of patient spectra. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.