The Role of 3.0T MRI in the Assessment of Deep Endometriosis Located on the Uterosacral Ligaments

Lucia Manganaro, Valeria Vinci, Silvia Bernardo, Paola Storelli, Eliana Fuggetta, Paolo Sollazzo, Adele Ticino, Maria Eleonora Sergi, Roberto Brunelli, Pierluigi Benedetti Panici, Maria Grazia Porpora
In: Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Disorders · 2013 · vol. 5(1) , pp. 10–16 · doi:10.5301/je.5000152 · W2092513780
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 6 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study evaluated 3.0T MRI for diagnosing deep endometriosis in uterosacral ligaments, finding 93% diagnostic accuracy with high sensitivity and specificity.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Purpose To assess the diagnostic accuracy of 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in assessing the involvement of uterosacral ligaments (USLs) in deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE). Methods Between July 2010 and July 2012, 42 women, aged between 19 and 45 years (mean age 28 years), with a diagnosis of cystic ovarian endometriosis and scheduled for laparoscopic treatment, underwent pre-operative 3.0-T MRI examination. USL was considered normal when it was not visible or when it was thin and regular. Results We found USL involvement in 20/42 cases: 4/20 had bilateral involvement, 16/20 had monolateral involvement; in the right ligament in 9/16 cases and in the left in 7/16. Asymmetric morphology was found in 17 patients with an arciform shape associated with increased thickness of the ligament. A thickness >3 mm was considered positive. These patients also presented thickening of the torus uterinus region. In three cases complete cul de sac obliteration led to loss of tissue plane which hindered identification of the USLs. Comparison with laparoscopy findings enabled us to achieve the following statistical values: 94.7% sensitivity, 91.3% specificity, 90.0% positive predictive value, 95.4% negative predictive value, and 93% diagnostic accuracy. Conclusions Optimal visualization of USLs was obtained on para-axial scans on T2W and T1W sequences which allowed an optimal anatomic visualization. In our study we demonstrated that 3.0T imaging enabled an optimal assessment of USL involvement to select patients for the correct kind of surgery or follow-up of these patients.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisdie_deep_infiltrating

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (21)

Cited by (6)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-06-02T02:00:03.124865+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK