Objective The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the accuracy of MRI using pelvic-phased-array and endocavitary coils in detecting intestinal wall invasion by an endometriotic nodule. Materials and methods Forty-seven patients (32.1 ± 4.2 years) who were planned for a surgical cure of deep endometriosis underwent MRI with conventional sequences using both coils. A thin bright layer on T2-w with enhancement on post-Gd T1-w defined our MR pattern for muscular layer involvement. MR results were correlated with surgical and pathological findings of the removed nodule. Results MR results for Group 1 (both coils) achieved a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of 100–63%, 96–92%, 90–70%, 100–85%, and 97–83% for endovaginal coil and phased-array coil, respectively. Group 2 (phased-array coil) had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of 73%, 93%, 84%, 88%, and 87% for this coil, respectively. Conclusion Combined pelvic-phased-array and endovaginal coils are better than phased array alone in the detection of intestinal wall invasion. Easy to perform, it has to be considered as a preoperative staging for deep posterior endometriosis to orientate the surgical management.
Catherine Roy1 Céline Balzan1 Véronique Thoma2 Benoit Sauer1 Arnaud Wattiez2 Joel Leroy3
[1] Department of Radiology B, Universitary Hospital of Strasbourg – Civil Hospital, 1, place de l’hopital BP 426, 67091 Strasbourg Cedex, France;[2] Department of Gynecology, Universitary Hospital of Strasbourg – Civil Hospital, 1, place de l’hopital BP 426, 67091 Strasbourg Cedex, France;[3] Department of Digestive Surgery, Universitary Hospital of Strasbourg – Civil Hospital, 1, place de l’hopital BP 426, 67091 Strasbourg Cedex, France