TRANSVAGINAL COLOR DOPPLER AND CA125 AS TOOLS IN THE DIFFERENTIAL-DIAGNOSIS OF POSTMENOPAUSAL OVARIAN MASSES

Objective: To evaluate whether transvaginal color Doppler and CA125 ar e valid in differentiating malignant from benign postmenopausal ovaria n masses. Methods: Sixty-two women with ovarian masses were studied wi th transvaginal color Doppler ultrasound before surgery, Serum CA125 l evels were also measured, Resistance index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) were calculated from the waveforms generated from blood flow with in the ovary. Results: Benign tumors had a significantly higher pulsat ility index (mean 1.23 +/- 1.02; range 0.65-2.99) and resistive index (mean 0.78 +/- 0.22; range 0.5-1.1) than did malignant tumors. However some overlap in individual values for benign and malignant lesions wa s found. RI and PI sensitivity were significantly higher than those wi th CA125 (P < 0.05). Blood flow was delectable by color Doppler imagin g in 95% of cases with malignant masses. Conclusion: Doppler sonograph ic evaluation of resistance and pulsatility indexes in the vessels of ovarian masses together with CA125 increased the sensitivity of predic tion of malignancy for pelvic masses, but further work is needed befor e the validity of these factors is proved. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science I reland Ltd.