Noninvasive testicular screening in childhood leukemia

To evaluate the potential of transscrotal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging as noninvasive screening methods we studied 8 boys with acute lymphocytic leukemia before testicular biopsy. Ultrasonic images of the testes were performed in 4 patients, including 2 with negative and 2 with positive biopsies, and all images were interpreted as normal. Magnetic resonance images of the testes also were interpreted as normal in 4 patients, including 2 with negative and 2 with positive biopsies, and they were technically inadequate in the remaining 4. The results suggest that neither transscrotal ultrasonography nor magnetic resonance imaging as currently applied may substitute reliably for testicular biopsy as a screen for occult testicular leukemia.