Is color Doppler ultrasound useful in diagnosing ovarian cancer?
In summary, the emergence of CDUS presented an interesting new technical approach to the study of neovascularization in ovarian cancers. Techniques for CDUS are technically difficult and plagued with artifacts making correct interpretation difficult. Measures of blood flow (such as the resistive index) overlap significantly between ovarian cancers and benign ovarian tumors. Wide differences in estimates of the sensitivity and specificity of CDUS have been published, and fundamental norms such as resistive index also vary greatly among studies. Explanations for these differences are lacking. Most studies were performed in academic centers with referrals of high risk patients. This limits the ability to generalize results to the community. Data are insufficient to include CDUS in diagnostic protocols for ovarian cancer.
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Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle 98104-2499, USA.
Dubinsky
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D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*