Bladder Cancer Tests - Definitions and Abbreviations

 

🔶 CT / Cat Scan / Computerized Tomography : CAT scan is what most people call it.  A computerized tomography (CT) scan combines hundreds of X-ray images taken from different angles around your body and uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images (slices) of the bones, blood vessels and soft tissues inside your body. CT scan images provide more-detailed information than plain X-rays do. When you see a CT machine, you will see a large machine that has a bed going through a small tube. When you get the scan, you will lie down on the bed, and it moves back and forth.

 

🔶 CT With and Without Contrast: CT scans may be done with or without "contrast." Contrast refers to a substance taken by mouth or injected into an intravenous (IV) line that causes the particular organ or tissue under study to be seen more clearly, or looks like it lights up when looking at the X-rays from the CT. Having a CT scan with contrast will sometimes allow a 3D image to be created. IV contrast, often an iodine contrast solution, can be very hard on your kidneys. Be sure to have your kidney function tested before getting a CT scan. 

 

🔶 CT Urogram : CT scan specifically for the urinary system. This is often done with contract and without contrast.  

 

🔶 Cystography (sist-o-gra-fee) / Cystourethrography (sist-o-ur-eth-rah-gra-fee) / Voiding Cystourethrography / CT Cystography: This test is more unusual for bladder cancer, but might be used for other urinary issues related to bladder cancer and treatments. Cystography is an imaging test that can help diagnose problems in your bladder. It uses X-rays. They may be X-ray pictures or fluoroscopy, a kind of X-ray "movie." During cystography, the healthcare provider will insert a thin tube called a urinary catheter that goes into your urethra, and inject contrast dye into your bladder. The contrast dye will let the healthcare provider see your bladder more clearly. He or she will take X-rays of the bladder. Cystography is sometimes combined with other procedures. For example, cystourethrography images the bladder and the urethra. The healthcare provider may also use fluoroscopy to watch how the bladder empties while you urinate (voiding cystourethrography). Cystography may show whether any urine backs up into the kidneys (vesicoureteral reflux). CT (cat scan) cystography is sometimes used following trauma or recent surgery.

 

🔶 Cystoscopy (sis-TOS-kuh-pee) / Scope / Cysto / Cystoscope / Rigid Cystoscope / Flexible Cystoscope:  A cystoscopy is a procedure that allows your doctor to examine the lining of your bladder and the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of your body). Some people will call it for short a scope or a cysto. A hollow plastic tube, called a cystoscope is equipped with a camera and light, and is inserted into your urethra and slowly advanced into your bladder. This is the gold standard test for ruling out bladder cancer. This can be done in the doctor's office with numbing gel, using a flexible cystoscope, which is much smaller than the one they use for surgery. Under general anesthesia (when you are put to sleep during surgery) they use a rigid cystoscope, which is much larger and painful, thus the need for general anesthesia.  If you are getting treatment for bladder cancer, buckle up and get used to these. For the first two years, you will get them every 3 months, then 6 months, then yearly. 

 

🔶 Imaging : Tests that produce pictures of areas inside the body. 

 

🔶 MRI / Magnetic Resonance Imaging: MRI's will also be used in diagnosing and treating bladder cancer. A MRI is a type of scan that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of your body. The machine contains powerful magnets, so you will not be allowed to wear any metal when getting a scan. MRI's are non-invasive. When you see a MRI machine, you will see a large machine that has a bed going through a long tube. When you get the scan, you will lie down on the bed, and it moves inside the long tube. Once in position, you will stay in that spot for quite a long time, being asked not to move generally. That can be from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. During that time you will hear a series of repetitive sounds. MRI's are especially good tests for soft tissues. 

 

🔶 PET Scan / Positron Emission Tomography : uses tracers (radioactive drug) to show normal and abnormal metabolic activity. That's a fancy way of saying that it will find really fast growing cells - like cancer. When looking at the images, these cells would light up. It can also help identify heart disease and brain disorders. PET scans must be interpreted carefully because noncancerous conditions can look like cancer, and some cancers do not appear on PET scans.

 

🔶 Utrasound / Sonogram / Ultrasonogram : A computer picture of areas inside the body created by bouncing sound waves off organs and other tissues. It can be useful in determining the size of a bladder cancer and whether it has spread beyond the bladder to nearby organs or tissues. It can also be used to look at the kidneys. This is usually an easy test to have, and it uses no radiation.

 

🔶 Pyelogram (PIE-uh-low-gram) / Intravenous Pyelogram / IVP / Excretory Urogram: an intravenous pyelogram, is an X-ray exam of your urinary tract. These are often used to diagnose kidney stones, bladder stones, enlarged prostate, kidney cysts, or urinary tract tumors. During this exam you will have X-ray dye (iodine contrast solution) injected into a vein in your arm.
For an intravenous pyelogram, you lie on your back on an exam table. The X-ray machine usually is either attached to or part of the table. An X-ray image intensifier — the part of the machine that obtains the images — is positioned over your abdomen. X-rays are taken before the contrast, and then the dye is injected and more images are taken at specifically timed intervals. Toward the end of the exam you may be asked to go to the bathroom and urinate. Then you return to the exam table, so that the health care team can get an X-ray of your empty bladder.

 

🔶  Urinalysis (Ur-i-nal-i-sis) / UA / Urine Dip / Urine Dipstick Test: Urinalysis is a urine sample that is looked at under a microscope. Sometimes this sample can also also be taken in the doctors office, and that is called a urine dipstick test. They will use small testing strips that can tell them quickly information about your urine including if there is any blood in the sample, or if there are white blood cells in the sample (meaning you have an infection in your urinary tract, or UTI). The sample can be taken with just washing off your genitals before urinating in a cup. It can also be taken when there is a catheter or scope inside your bladder. 

 

🔶 Urine Cytology : Urine cytology is a test to look for abnormal cells in your urine. It's used with other tests and procedures to diagnose urinary tract cancers, most often bladder cancer. Your doctor might recommend a urine cytology test if you have blood in your urine (hematuria). These tests will often be ordered when you get a cystoscopy.