1,721,078 research outputs found
Ultrasound Imaging for Ovarian and Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis
The main challenges of imaging for endometriosis are the detection of nonovarian disease and the evaluation of the extension of the disease into pelvic structures. Transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS) has been proposed as the first-line imaging technique because it allows extensive exploration of the pelvis. The "typical" endometrioma is a unilocular cyst with homogeneous low-level echogenicity (ground glass echogenicity) of the cyst fluid. The use of color Doppler helps avoid classifying malignancies as endometriomas, defining the presence of vascular flow in papillations. The real-time dynamic TVS examination of adhesions and pouch of Douglas (POD) obliteration, using the sliding sign technique, seems to be useful in the identification of women at increased risk for bowel endometriosis. Transvaginal ultrasound allows an accurate assessment of the vagina, particularly the areas of the posterior and lateral vaginal fornixes, the retrocervical area with torus uterinum and uterosacral ligaments, and the rectovaginal septum. The slightly filled bladder permits an evaluation of the bladder walls and the presence of endometriotic nodules which appear as hypoechoic linear or spherical lesions bulging toward the lumen, involving the serosa, muscularis, or (sub)mucosa of the bladder. Deep nodules of the rectum appear as hypoechoic lesions, linear or nodular retroperitoneal thickening with irregular borders, penetrating into the intestinal wall distorting its normal structure with the presence of few vessels observed with power Doppler evaluation. Adenomyosis can be observed with the two-dimensional (2D) TVS showing the typical myometrial features and 3D evaluation of the junctional zone. Although the sensitivity and specificity of TVS in the prediction of deeply infiltrating endometriosis and adenomyosis is high, their assessment by TVS is difficult and needs a great expertise
Could the uterine junctional zone be used to identify early-stage endometriosis in women?
Contrast ultrasonography for tubal patency
Evaluation of tubal patency is an essential part of a fertility workup. Laparoscopy with chromopertubation in conjunction with hysteroscopy is the gold standard in evaluation of tubal patency and the uterine cavity. In this review article we describe a newer method for evaluation of the uterus and fallopian tubes, that is, hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography (HyCoSy). Accuracy of HyCoSy for tubal patency has been shown to be comparable to that with hysterosalpingography (HSG) when compared with laparoscopic chromopertubation. Sensitivity ranges from 75% to 96%, and specificity from 67% to 100%. HyCoSy is also accurate when compared with HSG in determining tubal occlusion after hysteroscopic sterilization, with 88% of patients stating they would prefer to undergo the tubal occlusion test in their gynecologist's office. Because HyCoSy also includes evaluation of the uterine cavity with saline solution-enhanced sonohysterography, accuracy in evaluating the uterine cavity is >90% when compared with hysteroscopy. HyCoSy enables the gynecologist to complete a fertility workup in the office in the most minimally invasive way. HyCoSy is well tolerated and has been suggested in the literature to replace HSG for evaluation of tubal disease in the subfertile population
Can hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography replace hysterosalpingography in confirming tubal blockage after hysteroscopic sterilization and in the evaluation of the uterus and tubes in infertile patients?
The objective of the study was to assess the accuracy of hysterosalpingo-contrast sonography (HyCoSy) in establishing tubal patency or blockage and evaluating the uterine cavity by comparing it with hysteroscopy laparoscopy (HLC) or hysterosalpingography (HSG)
- …
