Diffuse prostatic lesions: role of color Doppler and power Doppler ultrasonography

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of color Doppler ultrasonography and power Doppler ultrasonography in the identification of diffuse prostatic lesions. Forty male patients underwent gray scale transrectal ultrasonography, color and power Doppler sonography, and transrectal ultrasonographically guided biopsy. Transrectal ultrasonographically guided biopsy revealed cancer in 23 patients and benign lesions in 17 patients. Among the prostatic cancers 82.6% (19 of 23) showed increased flow signals, whereas 23.5% (four of 17) of benign lesions showed increased flow signals on color or power Doppler ultrasonography. If we consider increased flow signal on color or power Doppler sonography as a sign of a prostate cancer in diffuse prostatic lesions, these modalities have a sensitivity of 82.6%, specificity of 76.5%, and positive predictive value of 82.6%. On the basis of our study, we may conclude that color and power Doppler ultrasonography are useful in the identification of diffuse prostatic lesions.