PROGNOSTIC APPLICATION OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IN PATIENTS WITHENDOMETRIOMAS TREATED WITH GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING-HORMONE ANALOG

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.