Hi Colophony,

I don't have any information for you about this topic, but I am a
member of another group as well that may be able to help.

This group is a forum at www.healingwell.com/community.  There is free
registration required to join.  You'll want to be on the "Prostate
Cancer" forum.

All the best,

Idaho Guy

--------
Age: 54
PSA: 4.3
Biopsy: T1c, 3+3=6, 2 pos. samples in one side, <5% volume
Da Vinci 31 Jul 2007: saved nerve bundle on non-cancerous side
Final pathology: Confined to prostate, T2a, 3+3=6, <1% volume
My web site: http://pca-info.blogspot.com

Hi Colophony...I've read comments by others on the endorectal MRI.  It
seems to be a very useful test for locating PCa when it is performed
by an expert.  It is frequently discussed as being comparable to color
doppler ultrasound.  One thing that is usually mentioned is that a
unit with a large magnet (3 Tesla) is needed for best
resolution...Best wishes and good health, ron

I had three endorectal MRIs.  It was in a clinical trial of
endorectal MRI guided HDR brachytherapy.  They did one trial run
to be sure they could image my prostate successfully, then one
more during each of two HDR sessions.  I was anaesthetized and
asleep for the ones done with live radiation.

I was shown the images from the first session, blown up on a big
computer monitor.  The tumor (a big ugly sucker) showed up very
well and very precisely in the images.  You could see that it
extended beyond the edge of the prostate gland.

They also did MRI imaging of my seminal vesicles and didn't find
anything - which was good.  I don't remember the resolution of
the images.  I seem to recall that they said anything .5 (or maybe
it was .2?) millimeters or larger would show.  However that's a
question the guy who does it will be able to answer.

The exam is not painful, but they do shove an antenna up the
rectum, which is uncomfortable (if you have a choice between a
delicate young nurse and a big muscular guy to do the insertion,
forget modesty and pick the delicate nurse :).  You're on a
gurney, lying on your side.  The antenna is on a short pole and
has a balloon at the end which is inflated after insertion to
press the antenna directly against the prostate.  After that,
they slide you into a tunnel like MRI machine which makes a
series of very loud banging and buzzing noises for some period of
time.  You're in it for a while, I seem to remember somewhere
like 15 minutes to a half hour.  However mine was a trial and its
possible they were doing more images than would customarily be
done.

The test is not invasive.  They don't break the skin and I don't
recall them injecting anything, though it was almost 4 years ago
and I may be misremembering.

When I saw the images, I was quickly convinced that this was a
worthwhile test.

   Alan