Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging; A Useful Tool for Characterization and Assessment of Ovarian Masses

Dhifaf A Habeeb, Rania A Maarof, Ahmed S Abdelrahman,

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging; A Useful Tool for Characterization and Assessment of Ovarian Masses

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Rania A Maarof, Ahmed S Abdelrahman, Dhifaf A Habeeb

Department of Radiodiagnosis Faculty of Medicine – Ain shams University

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) for the characterization of complex ovarian tumors, by using histologic findings as the reference standard. Patients and methods: 25 patients (age range from 24 to 60) with complex ovarian masses underwent DCE-MRI before surgical excision. The study included 8 benign, 3 borderline & 14 malignant masses. The following kinetic parameters were analyzed: enhancement amplitude (EA) in the form of MRE%, time to peak in the form of T max & maximal slope (MS) & correlated with histopathological results.
Results: DCE-MRI achieved higher overall accuracy (85.7%) & specificity (86.5%) than conventional MRI. MRE% was higher for malignant than for benign (p0.001) & borderline masses (p0.002). T max was of shorter duration in malignant than in benign (p, < 0.001) and borderline (p, 0.018) masses. Type III curve was specific for invasive malignant tumors. Conclusion: DCE-MRI can be a useful tool in characterization of complex ovarian masses & in differentiating between borderline & invasive malignant neoplasms.

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