Endometrial Carcinoma: Dynamic MRI with Turbo-FLASH Technique

PURPOSE: Our goal was to investigate the usefulness of dynamic MRI with the turbo-FLASH technique in estimating myometrial invasion by endometrial carcinoma. METHOD: Forty-six patients with endometrial carcinomas were evaluated with pathologic correlation. Dynamic MRI was performed with the rapid administration of Gd-DTPA using the turbo-FLASH technique. RESULTS: The inner muscle layer showed more rapid contrast enhancement effects than the outer muscle layer even after menopause. Contrast-to-noise ratio between the inner muscle layer and endometrial carcinoma was maximum at approximately 50 s after administration of Gd-DTPA. In postmenopausal women, the accuracy in estimating myometrial invasion with T2-weighted images, contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images, and dynamic MRI was 66.7, 77.8, and 92.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Dynamic MRI with the turbo-FLASH technique is considered to be a useful imaging method for the estimation of myometrial invasion by endometrial carcinoma, especially in postmenopausal patients.