[Non-granulomatous prostatitis: MRI image with endorectal surface coil ("Endo-MRI")]

Abstract

Inflammatory conditions of the prostate are often difficult to distinguish from early stages of prostate cancer with imaging techniques. The use of an endorectal surface coil in MRI of the prostate gland has been reported to provide superior resolution and better imaging of details than MRI with a body coil in the diagnosis of early prostate cancer. We report a 34-year-old patient with nonspecific non-granulomatous prostatitis in whom T2-weighted endorectal surface coil magnetic resonance imaging (ESCMRI) showed a region of markedly decreased signal intensity in the periphery of the gland. The low signal intensity of the lesion, its sharp demarcation from the normal part of the peripheral zone of the prostate and the marked bulge of the surface contour without capsular breach of the organ were interpreted as evidence of a bioptically proven benign inflammatory condition.