Magnetic resonance imaging of the internal anatomy of the prostate gland.

Previous reports on the value of magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate have been conflicting and frequently pessimistic, in part because of inability to visualize internal prostatic anatomy. Multiple spin-echo sequences were used to determine a sequence that clearly delineated the internal prostatic anatomy in normal volunteers. A thin section, T2-weighted, spin-echo technique displayed the internal prostatic anatomy in great detail, including the central and peripheral zones, the prostatic urethra, and the periprostatic venous plexus. Accurate depiction of the zonal anatomy of the prostate is important in characterizing focal prostatic disease because the vast majority of carcinomas begin within the peripheral zone, whereas benign hypertrophy originates centrally.