Carcinoma of the urinary bladder is a common (in the USA it is the fifth most common form of cancer in males and tenth most common form of cancer in females) malignan­ cy and one in which noninvasive staging by imaging plays such an important role. This book presents a complete approach to MR imaging of carcinoma of the urinary bladder from a detailed discussion of the value of MRI in the diagnosis of the urinary bladder to the history of the procedure. The technical discussion of the general principles of MRI including the optimal pulse sequences to be used and factors that influence the quality of images are included in this book. The safety factors are also presented along with contraindications. The application of a double surface coil with the field strength of O.5T provides the fine quality of the illustrations. The atlas of comparative anatomy by MRI on normal volunteers and post-mo'rtem specimens as well as MR images on patients with bladder tumors and post-surgery specimens is unique. The results of the clinical imaging stu­ dies in patients with carcinoma of the bladder, comparing the relative value of clinical staging, MR, CT and lymphography, are helpful in showing the advantages of MRI.

I. Introduction.- 1.1 Magnetic spin tomography.- 1.2 Carcinoma of the urinary bladder.- 1.3 Diagnostic imaging of carcinoma of the urinary bladder.- 1.4 Aims and design of this study.- II. General Principles Of MRI.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Basic physics of MRI.- 2.3 Image contrast.- 2.4 Strength of the magnetic field.- 2.5 Artifacts.- 2.6 Advantages of MRI over other imaging techniques.- 2.7 Disadvantages of MRI compared with other imaging techniques.- 2.8 Safety of MRI.- 2.9 Contraindications for MRI investigation.- III. Technical Aspects of Mri Specificially Relevant to Patients with Urinary Bladder Carcinoma.- 3.1 Introduction, optimal conditions for examination.- 3.2 Patient-related factors.- 3.3 Pulse sequence optimization.- 3.4 Body-coil MRI versus (double) surface-coil MRI.- 3.5 Comparison of staging results at 0.5 T and 1.5 T.- 3.6 Conclusion and protocol to be followed.- IV. Normal Mr Images: Correlation With Known Anatomic Proportions.- 4.1 Normal MR images of the pelvis.- 4.2 Correlation of MR images with anatomic sections.- 4.3 Correlations of MR images with sections of resected specimens.- V. Staging of Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder on the Basis of MRI Results.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Evaluation of MRI, CT, and the clinical staging method compared with postoperative histopathologic staging based on cystectomy and autopsy specimens.- 5.3. Evaluation of staging with MRI and CT by using a combination of clinical staging and follow-up as a reference.- 5.4 Evaluation of staging with MRI by using a combination of clinical staging and follow-up as a reference.- VI. Discussion, Conclusions and Future Perspectives.- 6.1 Discussion and conclusions.- 6.2 Future prospects.- VII. Summary.- References.