Virtual cystoscopy: the evaluation of bladder lesions with computed tomographic virtual cystoscopy

Abstract

Purpose: Our objective was to assess the accuracy of computedtomographic virtual cystoscopy (CTVC) in the detection of urinarybladder lesions.Methods: Twenty-five patients were examined using CTVC. Bladderscanned using multislice CT at a slice thickness of 1 mm. The datawere transferred to a workstation for interactive navigation usingsurface rendering. Findings obtained from CTVC were comparedwith results from conventional cystoscopy and with pathologicalfindings.Results: Thirty-eight lesions were identified. The smallest was0.2 × 0.3 cm; the largest was 7 × 4.5 cm. Both CTVC and conventionalcystoscopy were used. Conventional cystoscopy detectedthe same number of lesions that were detected by CTVC. Onmorphological examination, 26 of the lesions were polypoid, 7were sessile and 5 were bladder wall-thickening. While one of thepolypoid lesions was reported as an inverted papilloma, 2 of the 5lesions that were identified as wall-thickening were malignant and3 were benign. The sensitivity of using CTVC to identify neoplasiaswas 100%; the accuracy was 89%.Conclusion: Although the definitive diagnosis of some suspectedurinary bladder tumours is only possible with conventional cystoscopyand biopsy, CTVC is a minimally invasive technique whichprovides beneficial information about urinary bladder lesions.