MRI helps clinicians assess neural involvement in endometriosis

MRI helps clinicians assess the neural involvement in endometriosis and could help them prevent irreversible nerve damage and chronic sensorimotor neuropathy in women suffering from the condition, Cleveland Clinic researchers have reported.MRI findings regarding the state of pelvic nerves involved in endometriosis are key to planning treatment, wrote a group led by Ceylan Colak, MD. The team's review of MRI's role for this indication was published January 3 in RadioGraphics."Evidence of irreversible damage can … be seen at MRI, and radiologists should evaluate pelvic nerves that are commonly involved in endometriosis in their search pattern and report template to ensure that this information is incorporated into treatment planning,"  Colak and colleagues noted.Endometriosis most commonly manifests in the pelvis, and its most common symptom is pain, they explained. Nerves in the pelvis can become entrapped in endometriosis, including the sciatic, obturator, femoral, pudendal, and inferior hypogastric nerves and the inferior hypogastric and lumbosacral plexuses, and this neural involvement can present not only as pain but also as weakness, numbness, incontinence, and even paraplegia.The condition is often treated with laparoscopic excision and identifying any neural structures involved can help with surgical planning, the team explained. Endovaginal ultrasound is also used to "map" endometriosis lesions, but MRI offers the field of view and spatial resolution that produce...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: MRI Womens Imaging Genitourinary Radiology Source Type: news