Studies on the detection of small endometrial implants by magnetic resonance imaging using a fat saturation technique.
To assess the usefulness of fat-saturated magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in detecting small endometrial implants, 258 pigmented lesions of endometriosis from 80 consecutive patients with histopathologically diagnosed pelvic endometriosis were compared using fat-saturated and conventional MR imaging. MR imaging was performed with a 1.5-tesla superconducting magnet with spin echo T1-, T2-, and fat-saturated T1-weighted images. Both conventional MR images and fat-saturated MR images permitted identification of almost all endometriomas > 10 mm in diameter. With conventional MR imaging, 29 endometrial implants measuring < 10 mm in diameter were detected. One hundred and seven lesions were detected by fat-saturated MR imaging. However, conventional MR images demonstrated only 4 lesions among these 111 small endometrial implants that measured < 5 mm in diameter. The addition of fat-saturated MR imaging increased the detection rate to 55 of 111 lesions. Fat-saturated MR imaging can, therefore, be useful in detecting small endometrial implants.
Takahashi
K
K
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shimane Medical University, Izumo, Japan.
Okada
M
M
Okada
S
S
Kitao
M
M
Imaoka
I
I
Sugimura
K
K
D000328:Adult; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D004717:Endometrium / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies