Adnexal Masses: Characterization of Benign Ovarian Lesions

Imaging of female pelvic malignancies regarding MRI, CT, and PET/CT

“…Besides estimating the tumor size, an evaluation of peritoneal spread, lymph node metastases, or resectability is feasible [14]. For the detection of any calcifications in ovarian cancer, CT proves to be the most practicable imaging modality.…”

“…For the detection of any calcifications in ovarian cancer, CT proves to be the most practicable imaging modality. Nevertheless, early stages of ovarian malignancies may not be detectable in CT [14,21]. PET/CT is a useful tool for pretreatment staging in addition to surgical staging with laparoscopy and for restaging [10,37].…”

“…It is the imaging tool of choice for the assessment of local tumor progress or further identification of a tumor entity [14,36]. In MRI, cancer of the ovary can be evaluated in T2-weigted TSE sequences in the transversal plane with high spatial resolution and T1-weighted images in the transversal plane in three sequences (nonenhanced, fat suppressed, and contrast enhanced) to identify the different components of the tumor (Table 7) [14].…”

“…It is the imaging tool of choice for the assessment of local tumor progress or further identification of a tumor entity [14,36]. In MRI, cancer of the ovary can be evaluated in T2-weigted TSE sequences in the transversal plane with high spatial resolution and T1-weighted images in the transversal plane in three sequences (nonenhanced, fat suppressed, and contrast enhanced) to identify the different components of the tumor (Table 7) [14]. After application of Gd i.v., MRI allows for better differentiation between benign and malignant tumors by revealing necrotic areas, septa and cysts, papillary growth, peritoneal, omental, or lymph node metastases [14,26].…”

“…In MRI, cancer of the ovary can be evaluated in T2-weigted TSE sequences in the transversal plane with high spatial resolution and T1-weighted images in the transversal plane in three sequences (nonenhanced, fat suppressed, and contrast enhanced) to identify the different components of the tumor (Table 7) [14]. After application of Gd i.v., MRI allows for better differentiation between benign and malignant tumors by revealing necrotic areas, septa and cysts, papillary growth, peritoneal, omental, or lymph node metastases [14,26]. In addition with CT, malignancy may be reasonably suspected in any cystic ovarian mass with solid components, tumor diameter greater than 4 cm, thickness of a cyst wall greater than 3 mm, or nodular structure (Figures 3-7) [7,26].…”