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 and 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 and maximal slope [MS] and correlated with histopathological results
Results: DCE-MRI achieved higher overall accuracy [85.7%] and specificity [86.5%] than conventional MRI. MRE% was higher for malignant than for benign [p0.001] and 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 and in differentiating between borderline and invasive malignant neoplasms