The blood flow characteristics in borderline ovarian tumors based on both color Doppler ultrasound and histopathological analyses.

To clarify the tumor behavior in borderline ovarian tumors, we examined the characteristics of neovascularization in these tumors by using a transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound (TV-CDU). Twelve patients with borderline ovarian tumors were preoperatively evaluated for the characteristics of intratumoral blood flow by TV-CDU, using both the resistance index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI). As a control group, 100 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 31 patients with malignant ovarian tumors were also examined by TV-CDU. An intratumoral blood flow was significantly detected in both borderline (91.6%; 11/12) and malignant ovarian tumors (90.3%; 28/31), but not in benign ovarian tumors (53%; 53/100) (P < 0.01). In addition, both the mean RI and mean PI values were significantly lower in the borderline (RI; 0.45, PI; 0.67) and malignant ovarian tumors (RI; 0.39, PI; 0.58) than those in the benign ovarian tumors (RI; 0.61, PI; 1.05) (P < 0.01). In mucinous tumors, the borderline tumors showed a significantly high intratumoral vascularity (P < 0. 01) and both borderline and malignant tumors significantly demonstrated a low-resistance blood flow (P < 0.01), in comparison to those of the benign tumors. Mucinous borderline tumors of the intestinal type also tended to have a lower RI as well as a lower PI value than müllerian type. Regarding neovascularization as represented by intratumoral blood flow characteristics, this study thus suggests that a close relationship exists in the tumor behavior between borderline and malignant ovarian tumors, especially in mucinous epithelial tumors.