3-T MRI in the preoperative evaluation of depth of myometrial infiltration in endometrial cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of 3-T MRI in determining the depth of myometrial infiltration in patients with endometrial cancer.


METHODS
Fifty-two patients (43 postmenopausal) with histopathologically proven endometrial carcinoma underwent preoperative 3-T MRI. The following sequences were performed: axial T1 fast spin-echo (FSE); axial, parasagittal, and paracoronal T2 FSE; paracoronal 3D T1 inversion recovery gradient-echo after contrast administration; and parasagittal fat-suppressed T1 FSE. All patients underwent a hysterectomy. The MRI findings were compared with histopathology results. The quantity and degree of artifacts were evaluated.


RESULTS
. MRI performed on a 3-T unit was in agreement with histopathology in assessing the depth of invasion in 86.4% (44/52) of the patients with a mean sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of 83.5%, 93.9%, 77.8%, 92.2%, and 89.7%, respectively. Performance values were also assessed for single stages of myometrial infiltration. For the detection of an intramucosal lesion (MRI, 12/52; histopathology, 6/52), sensitivity was 100%; specificity, 86.9%; PPV, 50%; NPV, 100%; and accuracy, 88.5%. For the detection of myometrial infiltration that was less than 50% (MRI, 12/52; histopathology, 16/52), sensitivity was 62.5%; specificity, 94.4%; PPV, 83.3%; NPV, 85%; and accuracy, 84.6%. For the detection of myometrial infiltration that was greater than 50% (MRI, 28/52; histopathology, 30/52), sensitivity was 93.3%; specificity, 100%; PPV, 100%; NPV, 91.7%; and accuracy, 96.2%. The following artifacts were found: abdominal wall movement, nine patients (not affecting image quality); peristalsis, 16 patients (two deeply affecting, one affecting, and 13 scarcely affecting); magnetic susceptibility artifact, four patients (not affecting); chemical shift, 20 patients (four scarcely affecting and 16 not affecting); and dielectric effect, six patients (four deeply affecting and two affecting).


CONCLUSIONS
In evaluating the depth of myometrial infiltration in patients with endometrial cancer, 3-T MRI showed high diagnostic accuracy-equivalent to that of 1.5-T MRI reported in the literature. Artifacts did not significantly affect image quality.
Torricelli
Pietro
P
Department of Radiology, University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia, Policlinico, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy. torricelli.pietro@unimore.it
Ferraresi
Sonia
S
Fiocchi
Federica
F
Ligabue
Guido
G
Jasonni
Valerio M
VM
Di Monte
Ilaria
I
Rivasi
Francesco
F
D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity