ROLE OF MRI AND DIFFUSION MRI IN EVALUATION OF PELVIC MASSES OF GYNAECOLOGICAL ORIGIN

Abstract

is to highlight the role of diffusion weighted MRI in evaluation of gynecologic pelvic masses especially in differentiation between benign and malignant masses, and initial staging of known malignancies.
Design: Randomized controlled study.
Setting: zagazig university hospitals radiology department and university of North Carolina, MRI unit.
Participant(s): Women undergoing investigations for pelvic masses.
Intervention(s): Ultrasound examination, MRI and diffusion MRI with Quantitative measurement of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).
Main Outcome Measure(s): DWI and ADC values provide additional information in the differentiation between benign and malignant masses.
Results: Although the ADC can help to differentiate between normal and cancerous tissue in the uterine cervix and endometrium. In patients with ovarian cancer, DWI demonstrates high intensity not only at the primary cancer site but also in disseminated peritoneal implants. When added to conventional MRI findings,
Conclusion: DWI and ADC values provide additional information to routine pelvic MRI and improve the specificity of MRI and thus increasing the radiologist’s confidence in image interpretation which will finally reflect on the patients’ outcome and prognosis, but it should be in conjunction with conventional MRI sequences.
Keywords Diffusion. ADC. Magnetic resonance imaging. Uterus. Ovary.