Comparison of imaging examinations for uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors of the female genitalia. They are composed of smooth muscle and connective tissue and are common in women aged 30 to 50, but are rare in women under 20. As the incidence of uterine fibroids is becoming younger, early diagnosis of the disease is very important.

At present, the imaging examinations related to the clinical diagnosis of uterine fibroids include B-ultrasound, CT and MRI, etc. Among them, ultrasound examination has the advantages of no ionizing radiation, convenience and low cost, multi-position exploration, better display of liquefaction and necrosis in the tumor, etc., which are easily accepted by patients and become the first choice and routine examination method for uterine fibroids. However, when the patient is obese or has a lot of gas accumulation in the intestine, the bladder is not well filled, or due to the variability of uterine fibroids, the effect of ultrasound examination is often not ideal or difficult to distinguish from other diseases.

Compared with B-ultrasound, CT examination has high spatial resolution, is intuitive, comprehensive, and has a high positioning rate. It has advantages in distinguishing fat, bleeding, and calcification components, and can avoid interference from other pelvic organs. Through plain and enhanced scanning, it can clearly show the size, location, shape, and relationship of the myoma with surrounding organs.

MRI can show the size, location and relationship of fibroids to the uterine cavity more accurately than ultrasound and CT, but it is worse at showing calcification of fibroids than CT and its price is relatively high.