ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in revealing and estimating the extent of secondary vaginal involvement. MATERIAL AND METHODS. Thirty patients with secondary vaginal tumor involvement underwent contrast-enhanced MRI. Examinations were made using a 1.5 T MRI. The protocol encompassed T2- and T1-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRIs. To smooth out vaginal wall rigosity, the examination was made using an intracavitary MR-compatible applicator. RESULTS: Vaginal metastatic involvement was detected in 30 patients with sustained malignancies at various sites. The largest group consisted of 16 (53.3%) patients with uterine corpus metastases. Secondary vaginal involvement was observed in 11(36.7%) patients with cervix uteri cancer, in 2 (6.7%) patients with progressive ovarian cancer, and in 1 (3.3%) patients with rectal cancer. With a significant tumor volume giving rise to thickening of the vaginal wall or its impaired slice differentiation, the portion of an inhomogeneously increased MR signal portion during T2-weighted MRI, which intensively accumulated the paramagnetic in an arterial and venous phase of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, was detected. There were no T2-weighted images of a hypointense muscular layer and paravaginal fat streaks during an invasive process. In our investigation, vaginal metastatic tumors which were enclosed by the mucous membrane and evident as shallow erosion, as shown by the data of clinical and histological examinations, had no specific MRI signs in any of the pulse patterns, which is likely to be associated with the resolution of this technique. CONCLUSION: The proposed protocol of comprehensive magnetic reso nance imaging makes it possible to clearly localize a tumor process into the vagina and to determine the volume and pattern of involvement in most patients, including whose who have a history of antitumor treatment.
