Myometrial invasion of endometrial carcinoma: assessment with dynamic MR and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in assessing the depth of myometrial invasion, compared with conventional T2-weighted and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging.

Patients and methods: Forty patients with endometrial carcinoma were examined with T2-weighted images, dynamic studies and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images, preoperatively. We evaluated enhancement patterns of myometrium and tumour, and compared MR findings with histological results concerning the depth of myometrial invasion.

Results: In assessing the depth of myometrial invasion, the accuracy of T2-weighted images, dynamic studies and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images was 58%, 85% and 68%, respectively. The tumour-myometrial contrast of dynamic studies was higher than that of other images. In addition, subendometrial enhancement (SEE) was frequently observed in dynamic studies in post-menopausal women, which was an important landmark in detecting myometrial invasion.

Conclusion: We consider that dynamic MR imaging has greater advantage in assessing myometrial invasion than T2-weighted or contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging.