Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be superior to computed tomography for radiographic surveillance following laparoscopic renal cryoablation of renal masses, researchers reported at the World Congress of Endourology in Chicago.
Ravi Munver, MD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, and colleagues at Hackensack University Medical Center and the John Theurer Cancer Center in Hackensack, N.J., analyzed the records of 36 patients who underwent laparoscopic renal cryoablation from 2003 to 2010. During a median follow-up of 2.2 years, 101 surveillance imaging studies were performed, including 33 CT scans (33% of imaging studies) and 68 MRI studies (67% of imaging studies). Seven patients had CT scans that could not definitively rule out disease recurrence, prompting follow-up MRI studies. The researchers noted that primary use of MRI for surveillance would have eliminated seven non-diagnostic studies, which accounted for 21% of surveillance CT scans.
“Our practice patterns have changed to reflect these results, with all patients undergoing follow-up MRI preferentially in the absence of a specific contraindication,” the authors concluded.
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