Online ISSN: 2515-8260

Updated Bladder Cancer Imaging Techniques and Use of T2-Weighted Sequence High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance

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Ayman Fathy Ahmed Amer 1 , Engy Fathy Tantawy 2, Al Shaimaa Fathi Mohammed 3 , and Saber Moftah Abdulrrazaiq Albakoush 4

Abstract

Background:Bladder cancer (BC) is the sixth most common disease in men and the seventeenth most common in women. Its incidence ranks first among malignant cancers of the urinary system and second only to prostate cancer in Western countries. Bladder cancers and those in the proximal urethra are commonly considered lower urinary tract tumors to distinguish them from ureteral, renal pelvic, and calyceal urothelial tumors, which are collectively referred to as upper urinary tract tumors. Imaging characteristics such as enhancement are helpful for characterization. For staging, cystoscopy and biopsy are used for stages Ta–T3a disease, confined to the bladder. Cross-sectional imaging is useful at stage T3b or later stages, after the tumor has escaped beyond the bladder wall. The multiplanar capability of MRI allows image acquisition in different planes to minimize partial volume averaging and optimize imaging when evaluating the depth of bladder wall invasion. T2 Weighted Imaging (T2WI) provides information on tumor depth and extravesical disease spread. On T2WI, urine has high SI, BC has intermediate to high SI, and the normal detrusor muscle appears as a hypointense line. Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) does not require gadolinium administration and provides both qualitative and quantitative information that reflects changes at the cellular level concerning tumor cellularity and cell membrane integrity

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