Keywords:
Genital / Reproductive system female, Oncology, MR-Functional imaging, Imaging sequences, Neoplasia
Authors:
C. L. Piccolo, R. Del Vescovo, F. Giurazza, F. Pitocco, R. L. Cazzato, R. F. Grasso, B. Beomonte Zobel; Rome/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-0733
Purpose
Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic lesion in developed countries,
occurring mainly in postmenopausal women.
Various factors can influence its prognosis,
such as the histological subtype,
grade and tumor stage,
especially the depth of myometrial invasion(1).
Deep myometrial infiltration (>50%) is the most important morphologic prognostic factor,
correlating with tumor grade,
presence of nodes metastases and overall patient survival; moreover it is an indication for pelvic and lomboaortic dissection,
hysterectomy and annessectomy (2-3).
Therefore,
preoperative information about depth of myometrial invasion and histological grade is essential in the planning of surgical approach of these patients.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an excellent modality to evaluate the local stage of EC,
in particular it is able to define myometrial infiltration,
cervical stromal invasion and nodes involvment.
In particular,
the application of Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) provides both qualitative and quantitative information by applying the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC),
which correlates with cellular density and extracellular water content.
(4).
The purpose of our study was to compare the diagnostic performance of DWI sequences with T2-weighted ones in assessing the depth of myometrial invasion by Endometrial Cancer (EC) and lymph-nodes status.