Value of magnetic resonance imaging on local-regional staging of endometrial carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To assess the value of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI) in depicting the depth of myometrial infiltration, cervical invasion and lymph nodes metastasis in patients with endometrial carcinoma compared with surgicopathologic findings. Methods Thirty-eight patients with endometrial carcinoma diagnosed by pathology were inspected by MRI in this prospective study. MR images were analyzed by two radiologists to report the depth of myometrial infiltration, infiltration of the uterine cervix and lymph nodes metastasis. MRI and surgicopathologic staging of endometrial carcinoma were based on FICO classification. MRI findings were compared with surgicopathologic findings. Results The overall accuracy rate of MRI in staging endometrial carcinoma was 77.1 %. The results of Kappa statistics showed that there was strong consistency between MRI and surgicopathology for staging of endometrial carcinoma (k= 0.677). Respective diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values in assessing myometrial infiltration(>l/2 depth) were 91.4 %, 83.3 %, 95.6 %, 91.7 % and 90.9 %; those in cervical infiltration were 94.2 %, 80.0 %, 96.7 %, 96.7 %, and 80.0 %; and those in lymph node assessment were 96.2 %, 66.7 %, 100 %, 95.8 % and 100 %. Conclusion MRI is highly accurate in depicting the depth of myometrial infiltration, cervical invasion, lymph nodes metastasis and local-regional staging of endometrial carcinoma. Key words: Endometrial neoplasms; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neoplasm staging