MRI of gynaecological solid masses

Differential diagnosis of gynaecological masses is sometimes difficult, as there are so many histological types. However, magnetic resonance character istics of some gynaecological tumours have been reported past several years . On the basis of the recent literature, we have made a decision tree for d ifferential diagnosis of solid gynaecological tumours, in which there are s ome important divergences. Bilateral disease and invasive growth are malign ant signs in most cases. Specific findings for different tumour types inclu de: fibrovascular septa in dysgermonimas; preserving ovarian follicles in r ound cell tumours; pseudolobular patterns in young patients in sclerosing s tromal tumours; and extremely hypointense masses on T2WI in Brenner tumours , Distinguishing between sex-cord stromal tumours, Brenner tumours and meta static tumours may be hard, however, especially in middle age, because they all tend to show well-demarcated, hypointense masses on T2WI. Disproportio nately clear zonal anatomy of the uterus, enlarged uterus and thickened end ometrium, which are indirect findings of oestrogen-producing tumours, are u seful diagnostic findings in children and postmenopausals. Tanaka, Y. O. et al. (2000). Clinical Radiology 55, 899-911. (C) 2000 The Royal College of Radiologists.