Tissue characterization using mean gray value analysis in deep infiltrating endometriosis

S Guerriero, M Pilloni, Monica Pilloni, J L Alcazar, Juan Luis Alcázar, F Sedda, Franciscu Sedda, S Ajossa, V Mais, Valerio Mais, G B Melis, L Saba, Luca Saba
Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2012 · vol. 41(4) , pp. 459–464 · doi:10.1002/uog.12292 · PMID:22915525 · W1812377211
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 9 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

Mean gray value analysis of deep infiltrating endometriosis nodules found rectosigmoid nodules had significantly higher values than retrocervical nodules, with excellent measurement reproducibility.

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

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate differences in tissue characterization using three-dimensional sonographic mean gray value (MGV) between retrocervical and rectosigmoid deeply infiltrating endometriosis, and to assess intra- and interobserver concordance in MGV quantification. METHODS: In this retrospective study, stored ultrasound volumes from 50 premenopausal women (mean age, 32 years) with 57 histologically confirmed nodules of deep endometriosis were retrieved from our database for analysis. A single experienced operator had acquired all volumes. For each nodule, the MGV was evaluated using virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) software with semiautomated sphere-sampling (1 cm3) from the central part of the nodule. In these patients the MGV was also quantified from the myometrium of the fundal part of the uterus. In addition, two observers calculated the MGV in a subset of 24 volumes in order to quantify inter- and intraobserver agreement using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). RESULTS: Mean MGV was significantly higher in rectosigmoid nodules (n = 34) than in nodules with a retrocervical location (n = 23) (23.863 vs. 17.705; P < 0.001). MGV of the myometrium was significantly higher in comparison with that of nodules in both locations (P 0.95). CONCLUSIONS: Retrocervical and rectosigmoid endometriotic nodules display significantly different MGVs. Measurement of MGV is highly reproducible and its clinical value in the diagnosis and assessment of distribution of deep endometriosis should be assessed in future studies.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisdie_deep_infiltrating

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted Imaging, Three-Dimensional Adult Endometriosis Female Humans Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted Imaging, Three-Dimensional Middle Aged Reproducibility of Results Retrospective Studies Ultrasonography Young Adult

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 (34)

Cited by (9)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-11T06:19:48.454388+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:16:04.919516+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK