EVALUATION IN ENDOMETRIOSIS IN UTEROSACRAL LIGAMENTS BY TRANSRECTAL ULTRASONOGRAPHY

Uterosacral ligaments are one of the common targets of pelvic endometr iosis, which is usually clinically rather than surgically diagnosed. T his study was performed to determine if uterosacral ligaments infiltra ted by endo-metriosis could be detected by transrectal ultrasonography ., Uterosacral ligaments in non-endometriosis subjects (n = 61) were o bserved as low echoic homogeneous arcs in both sides of the uterine ce rvix. Patients who had endometriosis (n = 29) on the ligaments showed thick and irregularly-shaped uterosacral ligaments by the transrectal ultrasound examination. The results also suggested that the thickness of uterosacral ligaments was associated with the clinical symptoms. Tr ansrectal ultrasonography may provide quantitative information to mana ge patients with infiltrating endometriosis.