title: Power Doppler ultrasound: a potentially useful alternative in diagnosing pelvic pathologic conditions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate the efficacy of power Doppler sonography in depicting soft-tissue hyperemia in endometriosis and other pelvic inflammatory conditions thirty-one patients with predominantly pelvic inflammatory symptoms were evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Power Doppler sonography at 5 MHz and a pulse repetition frequency of 800 Hz was used. All the women underwent laparoscopy after 10 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Soft-tissue hyperemia was seen on power Doppler sonograms in 22 of the symptomatic patients. In these women Doppler demonstrated a diffused "blush" of almost or the entire symptomatic sites. Specificity was 52.4%, sensitivity 47.1% and the positive predictive value was 53.2%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Power Doppler sonography showed hyperperfusion in many cases associated with pelvic inflammatory pathology. It is a potentially useful adjunct to standard color Doppler imaging in depiction of vascular flow.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Athens, Areteion Hospital, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kalogirou
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antoniou
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petridis
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kalogirou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalovidouris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010388:Pelvis / Q000098:blood supply*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D014591:Uterine Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*