New. Advice please re. logistics

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User

Posted 21 Sep 2020 at 16:30

Thank you for bringing me into this site. I am recently diagnosed as "locally advanced" and am reasonably well versed in the medicals &c. I am 86 and the diagnosis only occurred via a GP who said better not to dip my urine (as I asked) but do bloods for a query I raised with her and returned +++++ PSA. Very fast entry to NHS Urology/CTI, not had and do not want blind biopsy. Am now on Zoladex. Now, the problem I have .... and I am not complaining or whinging .... is based on logistics. I am age related barred out (over 80) from mpMRI by the hospital management, not by a medical decision. My query is this ... can I contest or do I pay for private ? Of course, I do not want to upset the Urologist, but I need to do sone forward planning, based on fact. Thank you for advice.

User

Posted 21 Sep 2020 at 19:49

I am struggling to see why age would be a bar to mpMRI unless you have a medical implant which rules out MRI anyway. If it is purely a management / operational decision, I would suggest that it is discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010.

Having said that, I am not sure how useful such a detailed scan is going to be to you if you are not having a biopsy; the tumours may have already started shrinking so it isn't necessarily going to give a true picture, it will make no difference to your treatment plan and a normal MRI will be just as useful for identifying where the main tumours are and monitoring efficacy going forward.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 21 Sep 2020 at 20:51

I never heard of an age limit on an MRI.

I wonder if this relates to the Gadolinium contrast dye which is used for some of the mpMRI parametrics?

It is possible to have an mpMRI without the Gadolinium contrast dye, albeit not as good - those with poor kidney function can't have Gadolinium.

User

Posted 21 Sep 2020 at 22:50

But what is the point of an mpMRI if not to determine a) the likelihood of cancer based on the PIRADS score and b) where to target the biopsy needles?

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 22 Sep 2020 at 07:14

Agreed, a scan is probably pointless, likewise a biopsy.

My friend who has been on active surveillance for five years has annual MRIs but the images are blurred by his metal hip replacement.

Best of luck.

Cheers, John.

User

Posted 22 Sep 2020 at 09:28

Hello Lyn, Bollinge, Andy. Thank you for your posts, advice and opinions which are really helpful. They will all go to help me with forward planning.

Regards,

John.

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