K. Takahashi et al., PROGNOSTIC APPLICATION OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IN PATIENTS WITHENDOMETRIOMAS TREATED WITH GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING-HORMONE ANALOG, Human reproduction, 11(5), 1996, pp. 1083-1085
We evaluated the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for as
sessing the response of patients with endometriomas to medical therapy
, MRI was performed before and after treatment in 20 consecutive patie
nts with at least one endometrioma with a maximal diameter >10 mm diag
nosed by laparoscopy who received 900 mu g of buserelin acetate daily
for 6 months, Patients were categorized as good responders (group I, n
= 13) and poor responders (group II, n = 7) depending on the results
of a third-look laparoscopy performed 6 months after treatment, We det
ermined the ratio of the signal intensity (SI) of the endometrioma to
the SI of the gluteus maximus muscle on T2-weighted images [T2SI/M (mu
scle) SI] and the volume of the endometrioma, The volume decreased by
>50% in 61.5% of the good-response group and 57.1% of the poor-respons
e group, There was no significant difference between the two groups, T
he T2SI/MSI decreased in 12 of 13 patients in group I but in only one
of seven patients in group II, a significant difference (P < 0.05) bet
ween the two groups, In the good-response group, there was a positive
linear correlation between the decrease in the volume of the endometri
oma and the decrease in the T2SI/MSI after treatment (r = 0.561, P < 0
.05), Therefore, the T2SI/MSI determined from MR images may be useful
in assessing the therapeutic response of patients with endometriomas.