Evaluation of anterior urethral stricture using thick slab SSFSE MR urethrography

Background: Magnetic resonance urethrography (MRU) can be used for depicting not only anterior urethral strictures but also periurethral anatomy in order to produce a management plan. Purpose: To determine if thick slab single-shot fast spin echo (SSFSE) MRU is useful for evaluating anterior urethral stricture compared to fast recovery fast spin echo (FRFSE) MRU. Material and Methods: Ten patients with benign anterior urethral stricture underwent both thick slab SSFSE MRU and FRFSE MRU using sterile jelly for urethral distension before retrograde urethrography. The glans penis was tied at the time of MRU. The two types of MR image were compared regarding stricture length, scan time, and image quality. We also determined whether or not both of the two MR sequences could display an entire anterior urethra on one image. Results: The stricture length on thick slab SSFSE and FRFSE MRU ranged from 4.0 to 71.3 mm (36.4 ± 21.8 mm) and from 4.0 to 67.5 mm (35.7 ± 20.8 mm), respectively ( P > 0.05). The mean scan time for thick slab SSFSE and FRFSE sequences was 2 s and 194 s, respectively ( P < 0.05). However, regarding image quality, thick slab SSFSE MRU was inferior to FRFSE MRU ( P < 0.05). All the thick slab SSFSE MRU displayed the entire anterior urethra on one image, while only five FRFSE MRU did so ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: Thick slab SSFSE MRU can provide a concordant stricture length when compared to the FRFSE MRU and imaging of the entire length of the anterior urethral stricture with subjective reduced image quality and scan time.