Radiologists and Prostate Disorders: Winter post

Family practionioners, internists, and even urologists are referring males for pelvic ultrasound.  Symptoms of concern are hematuria or pain.

Radiologists are expected to render accurate measurements of the prostate.  Findings of prostatitis and epididymitis should be reported.

Any sign of cancer such as a peripheral zone solid mass should be noted and proper referral to a urologist for biopsy accomplished. Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in older men. Many will die of other illnesses with contained tumor that has not yet metastasized.

In older men, an enlarged prostate (BPH) can indent or project into the bladder base and this must be reported.  The finding of an unrelated bladder tumor will be a mucosal based mass distant from the midline.  As the nation grows older, more referrals for male pelvic ultrasound are inevitable.  Radiologists carry the burden of distiguishing benign from malignant disorders.