• - No biopsy but an elevated PSA
• - Elevated or rising PSA with negative biopsy
• - Elevated PSA, prior to biopsy
• - Assessment for appropriateness for active surveillance following low grade disease on biopsy, by screening for higher grade lesions that may not have been sampled at biopsy
• - Tumor staging
• - Assessment for recurrent disease

On your order form, simply indicate prostate MRI. We do request you include the patients last PSA scores. 

CPT CODES:

• 72197 (with and without contrast-gado)
• 76377 (for 3-D post-processing)

CT scan doesn’t have contrast resolution that allows for detection of small cancers and assessment of potentially higher grade cancers. Likewise, ultrasound doesn’t have resolution to assess for higher grade cancers and for staging. MRI provides the resolution needed to detect the smallest tumor and provide the appropriate assessment. 

The evaluation of the prostate doesn't end with the MRI scan. If a cancer is identified that needs to be biopsied, Shields can actually highlight that area on MRI and work with urologists at facilities that have MRI ultrasound fusion biopsy systems. These systems take the MRI images and fuse those with ultrasound images, in real time while the patient is on the ultrasound guided biopsy  table. The urologist can then target that lesion in real time and space and have a much greater accuracy of targeting that lesion. Ultimately this provides  a much higher yield for identifying clinically significant cancers and is a significant added value for the patient and the urologist. 

For a urologists perspective, read our Q&A with Dr. Michael Curran of Greater Boston Urology.