Transvaginal ultrasonography and nuclear magnetic resonance. Comparison of techniques in the evaluation of ovarian lesions

A total of 53 patients were included in this study, aged between 21 and 72 years old and hospitalised with the diagnosis of ovarian tumour. All patients underwent a clinical examination, ultrasonography and NMR prior to surgery. The findings of ultrasonography and NMR were correlated with histological results in order to evaluate the value of these methods in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumours. Histological tests revealed 46 benign tumours, 3 borderline cases and 4 malignant growths. Transvaginal ultrasonography revealed precisely 47 out of 53 ovarian tumours, and NMR 49 out of 53. The main limitation of both techniques was the tendency to overestimate ovarian lesions (specificity: ultrasonography 89%, NMR 93%). As far as concerns the identification of malignant lesions NMR does not appear to offer significant advantages in comparison to ultrasonography (sensitivity 85% ultrasonography = NMR).