[1.5 Tesla nuclear magnetic resonance tomographic studies of bladder cancer]

MR tomography was performed in 15 patients with urologically prediagnosed carcinoma of the urinary bladder. A field strength of 1.5 Tesla yields excellent morphological resolution of site and contrast. The results are compared with CT and--wherever available--with the pathological anatomic preparations. MR is often superior to x-ray computed tomography in demonstrating polypous carcinomas of the bladder and those producing thickening of the wall, since MR offers the possibility of performing coronary and sagittal cuts. In individual cases, MR can supply definite information on the depth of infiltration into the bladder wall and into perivesical structures; such findings agree with those obtained with cystectomy preparations. The contrast behaviour of the tumours and adjacent structures depends strongly on the measurement parameters employed with the high-strength field technique of 1.5 Tesla used in this study. MR echo sequences using different measurement parameters are useful in delineating the tumour contours against adjacent structures such as prostate, seminal vesicles, perivesical fat, urine and to differentiate the tumour from the healthy bladder wall.