Cervical carcinoma: MR imaging with an endorectal surface coil

Ten consecutive patients with biopsy-proved invasive cervical carcinoma underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with both a standard body coil and with an endorectal surface coil. The endorectal coil provided a markedly improved signal-to-noise ratio, enabling the use of small fields of view; thus, the images had significantly improved in-plane resolution. The images were assigned an MR imaging stage based on the clinical staging system of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Vaginal wall, vaginal fornix, parametrium, and pelvic side-wall invasion by tumor were all well demonstrated. When compared with body coil images, the endorectal coil images provided increased anatomic detail and demonstrated tissue planes between tumor and normal structures that were not seen on the body coil images. This preliminary investigation indicates that use of an endorectal surface coil is a promising technique to obtain high-resolution images of the female genital tract. This technique has the potential to improve the accuracy of staging for cervical carcinoma.