[Nuclear magnetic resonance tomography for improving the differential diagnosis of pathologic changes in the scrotal...

A total of 75 patients with scrotal pathology were examined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The diagnostic results were compared with operative and histological findings and with the sonographic results available. Compared with sonography, MRI showed diagnostic advantages in the detection and characterization of malignant tumors and in the exclusion of non-tumorous testicular pathology (old torsions, periorchitis, old hematomas). No false-negative results were found by MRI. False-positive results were found in 2 out of 75 MRI examinations. The possibility of showing tunica albuginea, of imaging testes in various planes and its diagnostic accuracy of about 88% as well as the lack of ionizing irradiation make MRI the most reliable form of diagnostic imaging in the classification of scrotal pathology. Sonography (51/75) showed high sensitivity in detecting testicular disease (90%), but its specificity (55%) was disappointing and could not be quantified with regards to the differentiation of testicular cancer.