Alonzo Laura, Cannella Roberto, Gullo Giuseppe, Piombo Giulia, Cicero Giuseppe, Lopez Alessandra, Billone Valentina, Andrisani Alessandra, Cucinella Gaspare, Lo Casto Antonio, Lo Re Giuseppe
Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic (BI.N.D.), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AOOR Villa Sofia Cervello, University of Palermo, 90100 Palermo, Italy.
J Clin Med. 2024 Sep 28;13(19):5783. doi: 10.3390/jcm13195783.
Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects about 10% of women, and it is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Associated symptoms are dyspareunia, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility. The diagnosis of endometriosis can be challenging due to various clinical and imaging presentations. Laparoscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis, but it is an invasive procedure. The literature has increasingly promoted a switch to less invasive imaging techniques, such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The latter, also in relation to the latest technological advances, allows a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the pelvis and it can also identify sites of endometriosis that escape laparoscopic evaluation. Furthermore, MRI has been found to be more accurate than other imaging techniques in relation to its improved sensitivity and specificity in identifying disease sites, also due to the role of new emerging sequences. This article aims to review the current role of advanced MRI applications in the assessment of endometriosis.
子宫内膜异位症是一种慢性炎症性疾病，影响约10%的女性，其特征是子宫腔外存在子宫内膜组织。相关症状包括性交困难、慢性盆腔疼痛和不孕。由于各种临床和影像学表现，子宫内膜异位症的诊断可能具有挑战性。腹腔镜检查是诊断的金标准，但它是一种侵入性手术。文献越来越多地提倡转向侵入性较小的成像技术，如超声和磁共振成像（MRI）。后者，也与最新的技术进步有关，能够对骨盆进行全面而准确的评估，还可以识别腹腔镜评估遗漏的子宫内膜异位症部位。此外，由于新出现序列的作用，MRI在识别疾病部位方面具有更高的敏感性和特异性，因此被发现比其他成像技术更准确。本文旨在综述先进MRI应用在子宫内膜异位症评估中的当前作用。
