Newbie Questions!

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 20:56

This is only my second post, but having spent some time looking at all the threads and subjects, there's a few things i dont understand - and cant seem to find an explanation of some of the terms folk use.

can anyone explain what an MPMRI scan is? (i know about the MRI bit. . . .)

and a template biopsy?

And TRUS?

my husband is having a biopsy on 1st september, having already had an MRI which threw up the original bad news. on examination, his prostate wasn't as large as the consultant expected given his high PSA levels. (His PSA score (!!) was almost 5000) and we know it has already spread to his bones, the bone scan on thursday will reveal just how far i guess.

I've already learnt a lot from this forum, but the terms above baffle me!

Thanks

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 21:38

Shefian

What is mpMRI?

Article copied from this web site removed due to discrepancies.

Added ,The above info was copied directly from this site.

In simple terms a more detailed scan.

A trus biopsy involves a probe up the back passage, typically 12 cores are taken. Local anesthetic is used.

Template biopsy is through the perineum , more cores are taken and guided with info from a scan. Some sort of sedation is usually used.

You can downloaded the toolkit, it contains all sorts of info , perhaps too much at times.

Thanks Chris

Edited by member 19 Aug 2020 at 18:13 | Reason: Clarification of source

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:28

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

And TRUS?

Trans Rectal UltraSound

It's an ultrasound probe up the bum which is used to measure the prostate and guide the built-in biopsy gun to target the intended areas. The biopsy needles are fed in through a small hole in the middle, so the probe only has to go in once (which is good because it feels quite large - I didn't dare look afterwards).

In many places they do mpMRI first then use the imaging to target specific areas with the TRUS biopsy. That's what they do in Oxford these days anyway.

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:30

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Before having an mpMRI scan, you will be injected with a Gadolinium-based contrast agent which is an essential part of this type of imaging.

This is not quite correct on two counts...

The contrast is injected part way through the scan (usually nearer the end). Tumors grow blood supply more haphazardly than the organ as a whole did during its development. This shows up by having a different flushing rate of the blood through the tumor versus the properly developed parts of the organ. The contrast is injected quickly to generate a slug that hits the prostate at once, and the MRI can then observe the rate at which is it flushed out of different parts of the prostate, and this forms one factor which is used to identify tumor areas from normal areas.

A contrast agent is not an essential parametric of multi-parametric scan, but it is a very valuable one. People with poor kidney function might not be given it, because of the extended time it takes for kidneys to remove it from your system. There are some other parametrics which can be used when contrast can't although probably with inferior results. Some people having contrast might be asked to stop taking some drugs which normally present a load to the kidneys for a few days beforehand, to help the kidneys get the Gadolinium out of their system faster.

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:38

I can't add much to what Chris has said. Trus stands for trans rectal ultra sound guided. The important bit about that is trans rectal means up your arse.

When I was diagnosed two years ago at a rather backward hospital the procedure was Mri followed by trus.

More modern procedure is mpMRI, which apparently is sufficiently accurate that it can rule out cancer in some patients who in the old days would have been sent for an unnecessary biopsy.

Trus took only a few samples, and had a small chance of causing sepsis, sticking holes in the rectum is not very hygienic. So the more modern approach is template which takes more samples, so more reliable and accurate, from outside the body which is more hygienic.

If your hospital is using the latest techniques that is good, if not it probably won't make much difference. The old techniques were reasonably successful in diagnosing cancer.

Dave

User

Posted 20 Aug 2020 at 09:19

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I wasted fifteen minutes (typing with one finger on an iPad) some information which I thought would be of use to others, yet when I went to post it an error message like “access denied” came up and it disappeared into the ether (once again).

A trick I used to use on sites which were intermittently problematic for random reasons was to copy your text to the clipboard before hitting the "post" button. Then if it goes wrong, you still have your missive and can repaste into a new reply window or save in a file to retry later.

The frustration when you lose a long message is awful, but I've not experienced it on here (Chrome on a Macbook).

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

Show Most Thanked Posts

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 21:38

Shefian

What is mpMRI?

Article copied from this web site removed due to discrepancies.

Added ,The above info was copied directly from this site.

In simple terms a more detailed scan.

A trus biopsy involves a probe up the back passage, typically 12 cores are taken. Local anesthetic is used.

Template biopsy is through the perineum , more cores are taken and guided with info from a scan. Some sort of sedation is usually used.

You can downloaded the toolkit, it contains all sorts of info , perhaps too much at times.

Thanks Chris

Edited by member 19 Aug 2020 at 18:13 | Reason: Clarification of source

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:28

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

And TRUS?

In many places they do mpMRI first then use the imaging to target specific areas with the TRUS biopsy. That's what they do in Oxford these days anyway.

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:30

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Before having an mpMRI scan, you will be injected with a Gadolinium-based contrast agent which is an essential part of this type of imaging.

This is not quite correct on two counts...

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:38

I can't add much to what Chris has said. Trus stands for trans rectal ultra sound guided. The important bit about that is trans rectal means up your arse.

When I was diagnosed two years ago at a rather backward hospital the procedure was Mri followed by trus.

More modern procedure is mpMRI, which apparently is sufficiently accurate that it can rule out cancer in some patients who in the old days would have been sent for an unnecessary biopsy.

If your hospital is using the latest techniques that is good, if not it probably won't make much difference. The old techniques were reasonably successful in diagnosing cancer.

Dave

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:54

Thanks for the info guys, I've now found the toolkit that's been mentioned several times 😊

User

Posted 18 Aug 2020 at 22:55

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Before having an mpMRI scan, you will be injected with a Gadolinium-based contrast agent which is an essential part of this type of imaging.

This is not quite correct on two counts...

Andy

That is a bit worrying as the info on MPMRI was a copy and paste from this site.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 19 Aug 2020 at 02:43

I can confirm that every time I have had 'contrast' the MR scan has been temporarily halted for this to be injected. However, the needle and line where always taped into position prior to the the scan starting in my experience.

Barry

User

Posted 19 Aug 2020 at 06:31

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Before having an mpMRI scan, you will be injected with a Gadolinium-based contrast agent which is an essential part of this type of imaging.

This is not quite correct on two counts...

Andy

That is a bit worrying as the info on MPMRI was a copy and paste from this site.

Thanks Chris

I will notify PCUK, cheers.

User

Posted 19 Aug 2020 at 17:41

I don't think I can take any credit for making PCuk aware of any discrepancies, I did not report it. All I did was copy an article from the web site in good faith, the first article that comes up when I searched for mpmri. I don't normally respond to technical questions that I have no personal experience of, but the dynamics of the site seemed to have slowed lately and some posts are going unanswered for a long time.

Well done Andy for spotting the discrepancies.

Thanks Chris

Added

Sue new or news ?

Edited by member 19 Aug 2020 at 19:19 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 20 Aug 2020 at 04:21

I wonder if PCUK Sue is making any plans to change this bulletin board in view of the repeated problems some of us have with it?

Cheers, John.

User

Posted 20 Aug 2020 at 07:52

John, gIven the lack of funding pressure PCUK are under during COVID, and the extra help they've managed to provide for patients as a result of treatment delays and difficulty contacting clinicians, I'm so grateful they've managed to keep it running.

User

Posted 20 Aug 2020 at 08:14

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I wonder if PCUK Sue is making any plans to change this bulletin board in view of the repeated problems some of us have with it?

I wasted fifteen minutes (typing with one finger on an iPad) some information which I thought would be of use to others, yet when I went to post it an error message like “access denied” came up and it disappeared into the ether (once again).

Cheers, John.

As you know, this is the new bulletin board that was developed in recent years to address the bugs and foibles of the previous one.

Since not everyone has the problems you describe, it seems likely that the glitch is something to do with either the browsers that members use or the cookies / cache. I use Chrome and don't have these problems, I note that new members like shediain have been able to start two new threads in quick succession; can it be solved by more techy members through a process of elimination?

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

User

Posted 20 Aug 2020 at 08:58

Hi John,

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems when posting new messages. We deployed a fix which resolved the access denied issue a few members were experiencing a few weeks ago.

Please can I ask you to email [email protected] with some additional details of what exactly you are doing when trying to post a new message and what error message you receive and we can investigate your issue further. I am currently unable to replicate your issue so we need some more details to help us to see if we can replicate the problem you are having.

If you can tell us:

- the Device and Browser you are using

-Which section of the message board you are attempting to post in. Does the issue happen in every section of the board or is it one particular section of the board you have this problem with?

-A screenshot or the text of the exact error message you see when you try and submit your new post.

Once we have the additional information we can investigate this problem further for you.

Best wishes,

Carol

Digital Manager
Prostate Cancer UK

User

Posted 20 Aug 2020 at 09:19

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

User

Posted 21 Aug 2020 at 16:28

''I note that new members like shediain have been able to start two new threads in quick succession; can it be solved by more techy members through a process of elimination?''

Actually, my very first typed up post was much longer, and had more questions and background info.
When i came to post it, i had an error message like Alex and my 'post' was lost too! I almost didnt bother again, but I'm glad i did - I've gained some valuable insight from the answers posted :-)

But I'm still learning abut all the function buttons like the quote!!

Edited by member 21 Aug 2020 at 16:30 | Reason: amendment

User

Posted 21 Aug 2020 at 21:50

Like some others, I will write the post in another application, like Gmail then copy and paste into this site. Gmail auto saves a draft if you leave the app.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 22 Aug 2020 at 05:19

Hi Carol,

I do everything on this ‘ere, the latest iPad Pro, using the Safari browser and the most up-to-date version of IOS. Of course you know that most internet use is on mobile devices nowadays. My laptop is gathering dust.

I can’t recall the exact situation when I was not allowed to post, it has happened several times, when I was starting a new thread. I’ll take more note next time.

One should be able to type directly into this, not have to copy and paste from elsewhere. If you start a post and move off the page to a different site the text is lost.

What’s happened to the “go to top” button which has recently disappeared?

Why do people tell me my message box is full? How do I empty it?

You mention a screenshot of the error, but I can’t post images here! Why not?

It really is rubbish and fifteen years out of date (like me😉). Why did you design your own bulletin board when they are readily available off the shelf? You mention financial constraints, but the best ones cost very little, and a charity could probably wangle one for free!

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 22 Aug 2020 at 05:38 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 22 Aug 2020 at 13:03

Bollinge, Carol asked you to email a screenshot and details, presumably because that will go to the person who might know what to do about it...

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Please can I ask you to email [email protected] with some additional details of what exactly you are doing when trying to post a new message and what error message you receive and we can investigate your issue further. I am currently unable to replicate your issue so we need some more details to help us to see if we can replicate the problem you are having.

_____

Two cannibals named Ectomy and Prost, all alone on a Desert island.

Prost was the strongest, so Prost ate Ectomy.

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What is mpMRI?

What is mpMRI?

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