![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Ovarian tumors are the second most common gynecological tumors and are the fifth commonest tumor in women. These tumors are the leading indication for gynecologic surgery, so the preoperative characterization of complex adnexal masses is crucial for deciding the possible surgical strategies (1). Ultrasonography (US) is the first imaging line for diagnosing adnexal lesions and is useful for the characterization of non-complex masses. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is of great value in characterizing malignant lesions, particularly when US findings are indeterminate or suboptimal (2-4). Functional imaging is becoming increasingly important in the evaluation of cancer patient in initial diagnosis and the assessment of response to therapy. Recent technical advances allow the use of dynamic and diffusion MR imaging in abdominal and pelvic applications (5). Magnetic resonance imaging can reveal morphologic characteristics such as papillary projections, nodularity, septations, solid components and signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted images, but none of these criteria can distinguish accurately between benign and malignant lesions (6,7). Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR (DCE-MRI) depends on the contrast agent leakage from capillaries into extracellular space giving quantitative data which reflects the blood flow and the vascular permeability (8). |