Peritoneal Cancer Indexes in Ovarian Carcinomatosis: Correlation Between CT and Intraoperative Results and Survival

Abstract

The aim of this study is to value the performance of computed tomography (CT) for the detection of ovarian peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). We review retrospectively abdominopelvic CT and compare them with surgical reports to value the correlation between surgical and radiological PC indexes and survey. We compare the peritoneal tumor implants detected on CT performed before surgery with pathology results obtained after surgery. 47 patients with an average age of 58 years are investigated. Tumor localization and size are documented applying Sugarbaker´s Peritoneal Carcinomatosis Index (PCI) in both, radiological and surgical investigations, which divide the entire abdominal and intestinal regions into 13 spaces. In each one, the bigger visible lesion is measured and scored between 0 and 3. In our study, the correlation of Pearson shows there is a moderate correlation between the findings of the PCI obtained in the TC and surgical findings, appreciating a general low correlation in all regions, although the better results belong to regions 1, 2, 0 and 10. Also we observed a lower survival to greater PCI regarding carcinomatosis index in both TC and surgery. All patients received systemic chemotherapy before surgery, so its effect on the size of the peritoneal implants could explain the low correlation. In conclusion, we can consider that TC is a useful tool for the planning of the surgery and the preoperative treatments. The peritoneal cancer index is a significant index of survival in ovarian cancer patients and by using PCI a detailed evaluation of the peritoneal spread is possible being useful as a prognostic factor.