The aim of this study was to investigate whether structured reports (SRs) of prostate MRI results are more suitable than non-structured reports (NSRs) for promoting the more accurate assessment of the location of a single prostate cancer lesion by novices in MRI-targeted biopsy.

50 NSRs and 50 SRs describing a single prostatic lesion were presented to 5 novices in MRI-targeted biopsy. The participants were asked to plot the tumor location in a two-dimensional prostate diagram and to answer a questionnaire on the quality of the reports. The accuracy of the plotted tumor position was evaluated with a validated 30-point scoring system that distinguished between “major” and “minor” mistakes.

The overall mean score for the accuracy of the tumor plotting was significantly higher for SRs than for NSRs (26.4 vs. 20.7, p < 0.01). The mean numbers of major (1.4 vs. 0.48, p < 0.01) and minor (3.05 vs. 1.15, p < 0.01) mistakes were significantly higher for NSRs than for SRs. Compared with NSRs, SRs received significantly higher ratings for the perceived quality of the summary (4.0 vs. 2.4, p < 0.01) as well as for the overall satisfaction with the report (4.1 vs. 2.1, p < 0.01).

Novices in MRI-targeted biopsy prefer structured reporting of prostate MRI as an information tool. SRs allow for a more accurate assessment of the location of single prostate cancer lesions. Therefore, structured reporting of prostate MRI may help to foster the learning process of novices in MRI-targeted biopsy.

World journal of urology. 2019 Sep 14 [Epub ahead of print]

Christian Wetterauer, David Jean Winkel, Joel R Federer-Gsponer, Francois Leboutte, Tobias Horn, Petra Schnyder, Sarah G Dugas, Leutrim Zahiti, Christian Engesser, Armin Halla, Hans-Helge Seifert, Daniel T Boll, Jan Ebbing

Department of Urology, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstr.21, 4031, Basel, Switzerland., Department of Radiology, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, 4031, Basel, Switzerland. ., Department of Radiology, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.

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