High-field magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvis : uterus, ovary, and prostate gland

Today, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a standard imaging modality for various pathologic disorders in the human pelvis. It has given proof of its usefulness in the diagnosis of several benign and malignant disorders, and it is routinely used for the local staging of different tumors even when confined to specific parts of a pelvic organ. Signal-to-noise ratio and motion artifacts of the examined organ and adjacent bowel structures are major factors for image quality. Setting at 3 T with surface coils avoids technical limitations and discomfort of additional endovaginal or endorectal coils. Definition of high field seems fuzzy because of the availability of MRI machines with 3, 7 T, or higher; therefore, the general aspects of MRI of pelvic structures with emphasis on uterus, ovary, and prostate gland and attention to promising newer techniques such as 3 T, dynamic contrast imaging, and diffusion-weighted imaging are reviewed in this article.