Analysis of rectal dose during prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy in MR-guided radiotherapy.

242 Background: The Unity MR-Linac combines a 7-MV Linac with 1.5T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging capability and it enables adaptive radiotherapy, whereby the target and organs at risk are recontoured and a plan is optimised daily. During treatment a session MR image is taken first, on which the target and organs-at-risk are contoured, and a plan created. A verification image is taken prior to dose delivery to identify intra-fractional changes. If present, the daily treatment plan is shifted to reflect the anatomy. A post-treatment image is acquired at the end of treatment. This study evaluates the dosimetric changes to the rectum caused by intra-fractional changes during treatment delivery for prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) calculated on the verification and post-treatment images. Methods: The first five patients treated on the MR-Linac with 5-fraction SBRT to the prostate are included in this study. For each patient, the rectum was contoured on the verification and post-treatment MR images for each of the five fractions. The dose delivered to the rectum with the original treatment plan was then calculated on each image and the V36Gy rectal dose constraint was noted. Results: Out of the 25 fractions, a post treatment image was not performed in one fraction; 24 fractions were therefore analysed in total. The rectal V36Gy dose constraint exceeded the mandatory target of 2cc on 50% of the verification images and 46% of the post-treatment images. In 6 fractions the rectal V36Gy was greater than 2cc on both the verification and post-treatment images suggesting this rectal constraint was exceeded throughout treatment. In 17% of patients, the volume of rectum receiving 36Gy increased at each timepoint an image was taken during the treatment workflow. Conclusions: The rectal V36Gy dose constraint is susceptible to minor changes in rectal filling, which may often lead to higher than the accepted dose constraint. Thus, a single planning CT scan is unlikely to be representative of dose delivered. Adaptive radiotherapy can reduce this uncertainty somewhat, but intra-fraction dose re-optimisation would be required to ensure the rectal V36Gy remains acceptable at all times.

Analysis of the Influence of Peripheral Anatomical Changes for CBCT-Guided Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy

Purpose: To analyze the influence of the bladder and rectum filling and the body contour changes on the prostate target dose. Methods: A total of 190 cone-beam CT (CBCT) image data sets from 16 patients with prostate cancer were used in this study. Dose reconstruction was performed on the virtual CT generated by the deformable planning CT. Then, the effects of the bladder filling, rectal filling, and the patient’s body contour changes of the PCTV1 (the prostate area, B1) and PCTV2 (the seminal vesicle area, B2) on the target dose were analyzed. Correlation analysis was performed for the ratio of bladder and rectal volume variation and the variation of the bladder and rectal dose. Results: The mean Dice coefficients of B1, B2, bladder, and rectum were 0.979, 0.975, 0.888 and 0.827, respectively, and the mean Hausdorff distances were 0.633, 1.505, 2.075, and 1.533, respectively. With the maximum volume variations of 142.04 ml for the bladder and 40.50 ml for the rectum, the changes of V100, V95, D2, and D98 were 1.739 ± 1.762 (%), 0.066 ± 0.169 (%), 0.562 ± 0.442 (%), and 0.496 ± 0.479 (%) in PCTV1 and 1.686 ± 1.051 (%), 0.240 ± 0.215 (%), 1.123 ± 0.925 (%), and 0.924 ± 0.662 (%) in PCTV2, respectively. With a 10% increase in the volume of the bladder and rectum, the V75, V70, and V65 of rectum increased at 0.73 (%), 0.71 (%), and 1.18 (%), and the V75, V70, and V65 of bladder changed at −0.21 (%), −0.32 (%), and −0.39 (%), respectively. Conclusion: Significant correlations were observed between the volume variation and the dose variation of the bladder and rectum. However, when a bladder and rectal filling protocol was adopted, the target dose coverage can be effectively ensured based on CBCT guidance to correct the prostate target position.

Evaluation of Low-Dose Multidetector Computed Tomography Whole Gastroenterography With Oral Administration of Contrast Agents

Purpose: To evaluate the degree of gastric, enteric, colonic, and rectal filling in multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) whole gastroenterography. Methods: In this prospective study involving 124 patients, 78 and 46 patients underwent MDCT whole gastroenterography using positive and neutral oral contrast agents, respectively. The degree of filling of the stomach, small and large bowel, was qualitatively analyzed by experienced radiologists using a 3-point scoring system. Results: The majority of patients received a score of ≥2 for small intestine filling using both positive and neutral contrast agents (90.5% and 78.2%, respectively), and <9% of the patients had a score of 0. The highest score for the degree of filling in the small intestine was observed in the ileum, followed by the duodenum and jejunum. There was a significant difference in the degree of filling achieved with positive and neutral contrast agents in the duodenum ( P = .013) and jejunum ( P = .047). More than 74% of cases had an optimal filling of the stomach, whereas >80% of the cases had an optimal filling of the colorectal segments. Only ≤5.1% had a score of 0 for the analyzed segments of the colorectum. Positive and neutral contrast agents were associated with similar degree of filling in the stomach and colon segments without a significant difference in the extent of contrast agent filling ( P > .05). Conclusions: Multidetector computed tomography whole gastroenterography was found to be a simple, safe, noninvasive, painless, and effective modality for the diagnosis of stomach and bowel complications in clinical settings.

High-resolution anatomic correlation of cyclic motor patterns in the human colon: Evidence of a rectosigmoid brake

Colonic cyclic motor patterns (CMPs) have been hypothesized to act as a brake to limit rectal filling. However, the spatiotemporal profile of CMPs, including anatomic origins and distributions, remains unclear. This study characterized colonic CMPs using high-resolution (HR) manometry (72 sensors, 1-cm resolution) and their relationship with proximal antegrade propagating events. Nine healthy volunteers were recruited. Recordings were performed over 4 h, with a 700-kcal meal given after 2 h. Propagating events were visually identified and analyzed by pattern, origin, amplitude, extent of propagation, velocity, and duration. Manometric data were normalized using anatomic landmarks identified on abdominal radiographs. These were mapped over a three-dimensional anatomic model. CMPs comprised a majority of detected propagating events. Most occurred postprandially and were retrograde propagating events (84.9 ± 26.0 retrograde vs. 14.3 ± 11.8 antegrade events/2 h, P = 0.004). The dominant sites of initiation for retrograde CMPs were in the rectosigmoid region, with patterns proximally propagating by a mean distance of 12.4 ± 0.3 cm. There were significant differences in the characteristics of CMPs depending on the direction of travel and site of initiation. Association analysis showed that proximal antegrade propagating events occurred independently of CMPs. This study accurately characterized CMPs with anatomic correlation. CMPs were unlikely to be triggered by proximal antegrade propagating events in our study context. However, the distal origin and prominence of retrograde CMPs could still act as a mechanism to limit rectal filling and support the theory of a “rectosigmoid brake.” NEW & NOTEWORTHY Retrograde cyclic motor patterns (CMPs) are the dominant motor patterns in a healthy prepared human colon. The major sites of initiation are in the rectosigmoid region, with retrograde propagation, supporting the idea of a “rectosigmoid brake.” A significant increase in the number of CMPs is seen after a meal. In our study context, the majority of CMPs occurred independent of proximal propagating events, suggesting that CMPs are primarily controlled by external innervation.