Incidence of benign and malignant prostate tissue in biopsies of the bladder neck after a radical prostatectomy.

Abstract

We determined whether bladder neck sparing radical prostatectomy may leave prostate tissue in the unresected bladder neck. We intraoperatively evaluated the presence of prostate tissue in bladder neck biopsy specimens from 73 consecutive patients undergoing bladder neck sparing radical prostatectomy. Of the 73 specimens 14 (19%) contained prostate tissue: 9 (12%) were positive for prostate cancer and 5 (7%) contained benign prostate tissue. All patients with a positive bladder neck biopsy had a positive margin at another site. We recommend routine bladder neck biopsies for patients undergoing a bladder neck sparing procedure.