16-MDCT cystoscopy in the evaluation of neoplasms of the urinary bladder

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of 16-MDCT cystoscopy in the detection of urinary bladder neoplasms in a high-risk population.

Fifty patients who presented with hematuria and a recent diagnosis or a history of bladder carcinoma underwent CT cystoscopy. All patients were examined in the supine and prone positions after bladder distention with room air. A detector configuration of 16 x 0.75 mm and a pitch of 1.2 was used. Virtual images were obtained with volume-rendered algorithms. Transverse tomographic slices, multiplanar reformatted images, and virtual images were prospectively evaluated separately and in combination. Conventional cystoscopy was considered the standard of reference for assessing the efficacy of MDCT cystoscopy in the detection of urinary bladder tumors.

Fifty-five (96%) of 57 urinary bladder lesions recognized at conventional cystoscopy were detected with MDCT cystoscopy. The size of the lesions ranged from 0.3 to 9.7 cm in diameter, including 18 lesions with a diameter of 0.5 cm or less. Transverse, multiplanar reformatted, and virtual images proved complementary for lesion detection.

MDCT cystoscopy is an accurate technique for the detection of urinary bladder neoplasms in patients at high risk, yielding satisfactory results in the identification of lesions smaller than 0.5 cm.