Assessment of the Vascularity of Uterine Leiomyomas Using Double-Echo Dynamic Perfusion-Weighted MRI With the First-Pass Pharmacokinetic Model

Abstract

To retrospectively evaluate the feasibility of perfusion-weighted MRI (PWI) in uterine leiomyomas. : Eighteen uterine leiomyomas in 15 patients were evaluated. PWI was performed using a double-echo T2*-weighted spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition sequence, and the first-pass pharmacokinetic model was applied to calculate relative blood volume (rBV). Histopathologic analysis was performed to measure vascular area (VA). PWI was successful in 13 of 15 patients. On quantitative analysis, mean (+/-SD) rBV calculated from PWI was 0.17 +/- 0.13 (range, 0.06-0.55), whereas mean VA was 3.3% +/- 1.6% (range, 1.7-8.5%). A significant correlation was identified between rBV and VA (r = 0.87, P < 0.001). The rBV determined at PWI correlates with histologic vascular area in uterine leiomyomas.