Cervical carcinoma: MR imaging with integrated endorectal/phased-array coils: a pilot study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of using MRI with integrated endorectal/phased-array coils for the staging and determination of the extent of cervical carcinoma. Twenty-two consecutive patients with biopsy-proven cervical carcinoma underwent MRI with integrated endorectal/phased-array coils before treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging was compared with clinical staging using surgical and pathological results as the gold standard. Eighteen of 22 patients underwent surgery. Seventeen of the 18 patients were correctly staged using an integrated endorectal/phased-array MRI with an overall staging accuracy of 94%. Fourteen of the 18 patients had a correct clinical staging with an overall staging accuracy of 78%. The overall accuracy of pelvic lymph node metastasis detection was 89% on MRI. These data showed that MRI using integrated endorectal/phased-array coils was more accurate than the clinical approach for the staging of cervical carcinoma. Magnetic resonance imaging using integrated endorectal/phased-array coils is a highly promising modality for detecting and staging cervical carcinomas.