Magnetic Resonance Rectal Enema Versus Computed Tomographic Colonography in the Diagnosis of Rectosigmoid Endometriosis

Ennio Biscaldi, Fabio Barra, Carolina Scala, Cesare Stabilini, Valerio Gaetano Vellone, Simone Ferrero
Journal of computer assisted tomography · 2020 · vol. 44(4) , pp. 501–510 · doi:10.1097/rct.0000000000001031 · PMID:32558775 · W3036547325
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 5 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Magnetic resonance enema and computed tomographic colonography showed similar accuracy for diagnosing rectosigmoid endometriosis, though MR-e better estimated nodule size and was less painful for patients.

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

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Rectosigmoid involvement by endometriosis causes intestinal symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, and dyschezia. A precise diagnosis about the presence, location, and extent of bowel implants is required to plan the most appropriate treatment. The aim of the study was to compare the accuracy of magnetic resonance with distension of the rectosigmoid (MR-e) with computed colonography (CTC) for diagnosing rectosigmoid endometriosis. METHODS: This study was based on the retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database of patients with suspicion of rectosigmoid endometriosis who underwent both MR-e and CTC, and subsequently were treated by laparoscopy. The findings of imaging techniques were compared with surgical and histological results. RESULTS: Of 90 women included in the study, 44 (48.9%) had rectosigmoid nodules and underwent bowel surgery. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy for the diagnosis of rectosigmoid endometriosis were 88.6%, 93.5%, 92.9%, 89.6%, and 91.1% for CTC, and 93.2%, 97.9%, 97.6%, 93.8%, and 95.6% for MR-e. There was no significant difference in the accuracy of both radiologic examinations for diagnosing rectosigmoid endometriosis (P = 0.344). However, MR-e was more accurate than CTC in estimating the largest diameter of the main rectosigmoid nodule (P < 0.001). The pain perceived by the patients was significantly lower during MR-e than during CTC (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MR-e and CTC have similar diagnostic performance for the diagnosis of rectosigmoid involvement of endometriosis. However, MR-e is more accurate in the estimation of the largest diameter of main rectosigmoid nodule and more tolerated than CTC.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Colonography, Computed Tomographic Colon, Sigmoid Endometriosis Enema Rectum Adult Colonography, Computed Tomographic Colon, Sigmoid Colon, Sigmoid Endometriosis Enema Female Humans Magnetic Resonance Imaging Prospective Studies Rectum Rectum Retrospective Studies Sensitivity and Specificity

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 (42)

Cited by (5)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-18T06:15:08.409253+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:21:53.586419+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK