Efficacy of gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for differentiation between superficial and muscle-invasive tumor of the bladder: a comparative study with computerized tomography and transurethral ultrasonography

Gadolinium-labeled diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was evaluated in an effort to clarify whether MRI could replace or be proved to be superior to computerized tomography (CT) and/or transurethral ultrasonography. A total of 57 bladder cancer patients was evaluated. MRI was performed with a superconducting magnet operating at 1.5 Tesla. The images acquired were multisections, having a fast spin-echo pulse sequence of less than a 14-second breath holding. Serial scans were performed before and immediately after Gd-DTPA venous injection. The findings on different imaging techniques were compared with the histological stagings. A proper diagnosis was made in 42 of 57 cases (73.7%) by Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI, in 27 of 57 (47.4%) by CT and in 31 of 57 (54.4%) by transurethral ultrasonography when comparing the histological findings. The sensitivity and specificity for differentiating superficial and muscle-invasive tumor of each imaging method were, respectively, 96.2 and 83.3% in Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI, 96.0 and 58.3% in CT, and 88.0 and 66.7% in transurethral ultrasonography. These data suggest that the staging of bladder cancer by Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI appears to be superior and more accurate than the staging obtained by CT and transurethral ultrasonography.