Residual prostate tissue after radical prostatectomy: acceptable surgical complication or treatment failure?

Positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy are associated with an increased risk of cancer recurrence. Depending on the patient's clinical presentation and the amount of residual prostatic tissue, this could be described as a surgical complication or as treatment failure. Endorectal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provides useful information regarding the presence and extent of benign and/or malignant residual prostate tissue. The clinical features and MR images from a 55-year-old man who underwent prostatectomy for prostate cancer and was found to have a considerable amount of residual prostatic tissue postoperatively on MR imaging are presented in the article.