Elastosonography: a possible new tool for diagnosis of adenomyosis?

Marco Tessarolo, M. Tessarolo, Luca Bonino, Marco Camanni, Francesco Deltetto
European radiology · 2011 · vol. 21(7) , pp. 1546–1552 · doi:10.1007/s00330-011-2064-z · PMID:21267575 · W1969639348
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Elastosonography revealed adenomyotic areas as softer than surrounding uterine tissue, suggesting its potential as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for adenomyosis.

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Abstract

Objectives Adenomyosis is a disorder defined by the presence of ectopic endometrial glands and stroma within the myometrium. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) is currently the first-line examination for this condition and the aim of this paper is to relate a pilot experience that was conducted using TVU to evaluate adenomyosis and which started from the assumption that tissues with anatomopathological differences show different elasticity values.

Methods

Using standard B-mode analysis and elastosonography, we evaluated 30 consecutive women with suspected uterine adenomyosis. In 15 cases the diagnosis was confirmed by histology .

Results

The adenomyotic area presented more softness (red and green) compared with the surrounding uterine tissue (blue); the borders of the adenomyotic area corresponded to the borders of the green area.

Conclusions

These preliminary results suggest that elastosonography could be considered a useful tool in the diagnosis of adenomyosis because it is non-invasive, easy to understand, easy to perform, and has a short learning curve towards becoming skilled at the procedure. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs Debra Levine for her linguistic advice. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Tessarolo, M., Bonino, L., Camanni, M. et al. Elastosonography: a possible new tool for diagnosis of adenomyosis?. Eur Radiol 21, 1546–1552 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2064-z Received: Revised: Accepted: Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2064-z

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715adenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Elasticity Imaging Techniques Endometriosis Adult Diagnosis, Differential Elasticity Imaging Techniques Endometriosis Female Humans Ultrasonography, Doppler

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