Impact of Prostate Urethral Lift Device on Prostate Magnetic Resonance Image Quality

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Devices
• Urology

Background:

• Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is commonly treated with minimally invasive procedures.
• Prostatic urethral lift (UroLift) is one such BPH treatment.
• UroLift implants can cause artifacts on prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of UroLift device artifacts on prostate MRI quality.
• To identify specific regions and sequences most affected by UroLift artifacts.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 37 patients who underwent UroLift and subsequent prostate MRI.
• Two readers assessed UroLift artifact severity on a 5-point scale for each pulse sequence.
• Prostate Imaging Quality scores were assigned, and the volume of gland obscured by artifact was measured.

Main Results:

• Poor image quality was more frequent in the transition zone (15%) than the peripheral zone (3%).
• Diffusion-weighted images showed significantly more artifact (27%) compared to T2-weighted (0.3%) and dynamic contrast-enhanced sequences (0%).
• 16%-24% of exams had suboptimal image quality; diffusion-weighted images had the highest percentage of gland obscured by artifact (32%).

Conclusions:

• UroLift artifacts significantly degrade prostate MRI quality, particularly in the mid-basal transition zone.
• Diffusion-weighted imaging is most affected, with up to one-third of the gland obscured.
• Patients should be informed about potential impacts on imaging for prostate cancer detection or workup.