Radiology, Vol 180, 91-95, Copyright © 1991 by Radiological Society of North America
Cervical carcinoma: MR imaging with an endorectal surface coil
BN Milestone, MD Schnall, RE Lenkinski and HY Kressel
Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104.
Ten consecutive patients with biopsy-proved invasive cervical carcinoma
underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with both a standard body coil
and with an endorectal surface coil. The endorectal coil provided a
markedly improved signal-to-noise ratio, enabling the use of small fields
of view; thus, the images had significantly improved in-plane resolution.
The images were assigned an MR imaging stage based on the clinical staging
system of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
Vaginal wall, vaginal fornix, parametrium, and pelvic side-wall invasion by
tumor were all well demonstrated. When compared with body coil images, the
endorectal coil images provided increased anatomic detail and demonstrated
tissue planes between tumor and normal structures that were not seen on the
body coil images. This preliminary investigation indicates that use of an
endorectal surface coil is a promising technique to obtain high-resolution
images of the female genital tract. This technique has the potential to
improve the accuracy of staging for cervical carcinoma.
