Benign Diseases of the Female Genital Tract

In: Diseases of the Abdomen and Pelvis 2010–2013 · 2010 · pp. 110–118 · doi:10.1007/978-88-470-1637-8_16 · W9268599
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AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-07

Endovaginal sonography and MRI are primary imaging modalities for evaluating benign female genital tract diseases, with MRI offering advanced capabilities for characterizing masses and aiding treatment selection.

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This paper (a radiology chapter) reviews imaging approaches for benign diseases of the female genital tract, focusing on how endovaginal sonography is used first and how MRI is applied when ultrasound findings are indeterminate. It states that MRI’s soft-tissue differentiation and multiplanar capabilities make it useful for reproductive-age imaging, including pregnancy, and that it is used for pre-operative characterization of adnexal masses and for problem-solving benign uterine disorders such as uterine malformations and adenomyosis, as well as for therapy candidate selection (e.g., myomectomy and uterine embolization). The chapter limits computed tomography’s role to emergency contexts like acute abdomen due to ovarian torsion or pelvic inflammatory disease. Relevance to endometriosis: the text mainly discusses benign uterine disease including adenomyosis and does not describe endometriosis as a core target of the imaging review, though it is included in the corpus via keyword match in the upstream index.

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Abstract

Endovaginal sonography (EVS) remains the procedure of choice for the initial evaluation of benign diseases of the female genital tract. When EVS findings are indeterminate, further evaluation is typically performed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), due to its excellent softtissue differentiation, multiplanar capabilities, and absence of ionizing radiation. MRI is thus well suited for imaging women of reproductive age, particularly during pregnancy. Accordingly, the technique has come to play an increasing role in pelvimetry and, more recently, as an adjunct to sonography for fetal imaging. MRI is used in the pre-operative characterization of adnexal masses and as a problem-solving tool in benign uterine disease (for example, uterine malformations), adenomyosis, and to select appropriate candidates for therapies such as myo — mectomy and uterine embolization. The role of computed tomography (CT) is limited in the evaluation of benign disease of the female pelvis and is usually employed in an emergency situation, such as in an acute abdomen caused by ovarian torsion or pelvic inflammatory disease. Access this chapter Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout Purchases are for personal use only Preview Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Eur Radiol 12:1952–1961 Author information Authors and Affiliations Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2010 Springer Verlag Italia About this chapter Cite this chapter Reinhold, C., Kubik-Huch, R.A. (2010). Benign Diseases of the Female Genital Tract. In: Hodler, J., Zollikofer, C.L., Von Schulthess, G.K. (eds) Diseases of the Abdomen and Pelvis 2010–2013. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1637-8_16 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1637-8_16 Publisher Name: Springer, Milano Print ISBN: 978-88-470-1636-1 Online ISBN: 978-88-470-1637-8 eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Keywords

- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - Adnexal Mass - Endometrial Polyp - Mature Cystic Teratoma - Intermediate Signal Intensity These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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