Purpose
There has been an increase in the use of gold fiducial markers to ensure precise radiotherapy delivery in prostate cancer patients. However, metal artifacts may affect the quality of subsequent imaging used to assess disease status following treatment. In this study, we evaluated the effect of gold fiducial markers on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), particularly on diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI).
Material and methods
Among 57 patients with prostate cancer, 21 patients in whom two gold markers were placed in the prostate tumor with abnormal signal intensity on DWI were evaluated. The effect of the markers on DWI was evaluated on a scale of 1‐5, with a high score indicating clinical usefulness. Change inapparent diffusion coefficient (ADC; 10−3 mm2/s) from before to after marker placement was also evaluated.
Results
The mean effect of the markers on DWI was 4.3 (standard deviation [SD] 1.3, range 2–5) points. The mean change in ADC was 0.045 (SD 0.041, range 0.025‐0.089) × 10−3 mm2/s.
Conclusions
The gold fiducial markers demonstrated negligible effect on DWI quality. Therefore, gold markers do not affect MRI quality, particularly DWI, and may be used during follow‐up in prostate cancer patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.