Prostate MRI. Know your options.
Posted , 17 users are following.
Hello. Just wanted to give a summary of my situation. I had a PSA of 1.9 in 2014. It had stayed in that range until around 2017. That is when I decided to have to have FLA done by Dr. K (with ok results, I am back on flomax doing pretty well). Fast forward to April of 2018: I went back to my URO and had a PSA of 3.5. Then in October of 2018 it went to 4.25. Due to the relatively quick increase, he suggested a prostate biopsy. I was never really concerned about the increasing PSA and cancer connection as I knew (and Dr. K confirmed) that any type of procedure can increase PSA levels). However, I felt like I needed to make sure. I eventually called his nurse to advise I was going to have a 3T MRI done before any type of invasive biopsy procedure. She told me that they can request the MRI for me and it would be covered by insurance. My first thought was why wasn't this the first suggestion by the doctor? I think we know the reason why.
The MRI came back negative and all is well.Please know your options and you should always consider the least invasive option first. Technology is a wonderful thing.
1 like, 42 replies
raffie Trustme
Posted
Hi Trustme:
Our medical community is still seeing $$$$ in their eyes rather than concentrating on best possible outcomes with the least amount of pain and anguish for their patients.
Regards,
Raffie.
owen35669 Trustme
Posted
Also -- what is the "procedure" you refer to in Line 8. A PSA test? I am not aware that this can elevate PSA readings. (Interestingly, I was told some time ago that an orgasm within 48 hrs of the test can mess up the readings to the bad side.)
owen35669 Trustme
Posted
Also fwiw: had a needle biopsy of my liver 20 years ago. No more painful than a few polio shots when I was a kid. Sometimes we get worked up over these things.
brian34488 Trustme
Posted
Hi all, keep in mind while a 3tmri is a wonderful tool its results are not bullet proof eg, while a 3tmri can find what a multiple needle biopsy can miss likewise even a 3tmri can miss what a multiple needle biopsy can find, it pays health wise to keep up to date with the experts that demonstrate genuine concern and have a record of vast successful experience along with reading reports from guys like us here on this excellent forum, I used Dr K and very glad I did but I also did a great deal of research.
Guest Trustme
Posted
I had PSA 7.1 in November and got referred to Urologist. First appointment came back as TRUS prostate biopsy required, so got myself psyched up for it. Arrived to appointment and urologist said he didn't want to do the biopsy, even though the had all the tools laid out to do one. Due to the invasive nature of a biopsy he scheduled me for a 3T MRI instead, stating if that showed anything then it would be a TRUS or template biopsy depending on the outcome.Luckily, the MRI showed no prostate cancer but did identify a 60cc prostate.Am awaiting urologist outcome on what happens if my PSA stays above 3.0 now, as it may do, BPH symptoms currently being kept at bay by doxasozin.Agree that non-invasive tests first are better.
glenn77 Guest
Posted
You were fortunate to have been referred to that urologist IMO.
raffie Trustme
Posted
Good Morning:
What if one can't do the 3T MRI due to metal implants. Will a Cat scan with dye give good enough results to avoid going through the biopsy?
Regards,
Raffie
barney34567 raffie
Posted
What type of implants do you have and where are they?
nick67069 raffie
Posted
if metal implants are not magnetic, then they only impact the adjustment area. If the implants are magnetic, then there is a real danger that they would be ripped out of your body by strong magnetic field used for MRI.
kenneth1955 nick67069
Posted
Nick
What implants are you talking about.
I have the Urolift done about 4 years ago. I have 4 clips on my prostate All I have to do is tell them or give them my card I carry and they a just the MRI. Had a couple last year. No problem.
Have a good day....Ken
raffie barney34567
Posted
Hi Barney:
My friend has small metal pins in his hands and a small piece of metal in one of the arms that bone has grown over from years ago when metal was used when he had reconstructive surgery. I understand titanium is the metal of choice today.
Raffie
nick67069 kenneth1955
Posted
those clips must not be magnetic for sure, trust me. When I worked on MRI, we had a fire drill and one of the fireman took large metal fan just to the door of the scan room. He made one step in when the MRI magnet start pooling and immediately he was airborne flying into the magnet while trying to hold on to the fan. In another accident we had forklift that happen to be passing by outside of trailer with MRI get sucked in to the side of the trailer. This is all on 1.5T magnet.
If the clips or implants are from titanium, then it is OK, they are not magnetic.
rdemyan nick67069
Posted
Hi Nick:
When I read your post about the strength of MRI, I had a hard time believing it. But I did some internet research and now I'm going to be very careful when I have an MRI. One interesting comment in the article I read:
"Metallic fragments in the eye are very dangerous because moving those fragments could cause eye damage or blindness."
Sometimes I feel like I have gunk in my eyes and who knows. I'm going to make sure I bring eye drops with me in the future.
Thanks for the post.
kenneth1955 nick67069
Posted
Nick
The Urolift are made of three components a stainless steel urethral piece, nylon thread a capsular nitinol anchor ( Nickel titanium )
On the back of my card this is what it says.
The Urolift implants is MR Conditional. They can be safely scanned. The maximum temperature will rise 1.6 C after 15 minutes. They just have to know that you have them in to a just the MRI machine.
Have a good day....Ken
nick67069 rdemyan
Posted
I would worry only if you had surgery and they used metal clips or similar. I cant imagine how would one get metallic fragment in the eye unless they had industrial accident or were in a war zone and got fragments in the eye. For what you describe, I would not worry about,
We had special tools to work on the magnet. If you take normal tools, they are usually steel and magnetic and would be ripped out of your hand.
nick67069 kenneth1955
Posted
Thanks for the info. Based on what you posted, clips are NOT magnetic and the only warning is about the temperature rise, which is from eddy currents induced by gradient coils ( used to add/subtract magnetic field dynamically to get spacial resolution in the image) and RF coils also used in MRI, where those clips act as an receiving antenna. Usually the result is white space in the image near the clips due to a loss of the signal.
barney34567 raffie
Posted
Titanium may be the metal of choice today. I have not had an implant in a few years and that was platinum.
Both don't have magnetic qualities ie they are not ferromagnetic so patients can be scanned with them.
barney34567 kenneth1955
Posted
MRI CONDITIONAL is the key.
Of course the real issue is that many MRI operators are clueless when it comes to how to scan MRI CONDITIONAL implants. At least that's my experience.