Magnetic resonance imaging following microwave thermotherapy, laser ablation and transurethral resection in patients with BPH.

Morphologic changes in hyperplastic prostate tissue following three different treatments were analysed by MRI using an endorectal surface coil. In cases treated by TUMT, the MRI findings of the prostate showed hemorrhagic necrosis, which was absorbed in 12 weeks, and a widened prostatic urethra. In cases treated by laser ablation, the thermal effect went deep, causing necrotic changes, and it took more than 8 weeks for the tissue to be shed and re-epithelization completed. In TURP, degenerative changes were seen only near the surface following mass reduction of the hyperplastic tissue, and the capsule shrinkage resulted in normalization of the prostatic urethra. It is suggested that improvement of the other parameters, such as IPSS and peak flow, in patients with obstructive BPH basically depends on these morphologic changes shown by MRI.