Men with continued but unexplained high PSA numbers may benefit from a new type of prostate biopsy available at South County Urological.
Called fusion prostate biopsy, it merges magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans with ultrasound technology. It allows the physician to better see the patient’s prostate and to create a roadmap of where and how to access suspicious areas within it.
Traditionally, prostate biopsies have solely relied on a digital (finger) rectal exam (DRE) to first find suspicious areas on the gland and then an ultrasound to guide the biopsy needle to collect tissue samples. MRIs can visualize tissue much better than ultrasound and can detect cancers that ultrasound alone cannot. An MRI is especially useful to detect more aggressive cancer.
With a fusion prostate biopsy, an MRI is usually performed days or weeks before the ultrasound-guided biopsy. Detailed images from the MRI are “laid over” the ultrasound to help the physician identify the best way to biopsy suspicious areas on the prostate, including those that cannot be felt during a rectal exam.
