Systematic Approach Could Help Better Diagnose Endometriosis
Jan 8, 2025
A team of experts presented a systematic methodology to describe the pelvic sidewall and structures within.
Key Points
Highlights:
- A panel of experts Including Dr.Fisherova, presented a new methodology to evaluate the pelvic sidewall.
Importance:
- This approach could help diagnose deep endometriosis and other conditions and ensure patients receive the appropriate treatment.
What’s done here:
- The team outlined a step-by-step transvaginal or transrectal ultrasound approach to evaluate muscles, vessels, lymph nodes, nerves, and ureters and developed a series of video clips showing normal and abnormal findings within each category.
Key results:
- The outcome is a universally applicable approach that can help evaluate the pelvic sidewall and identify both benign and malignant conditions affecting it.
Lay Summary
A group of gynecologists and gynecological oncologists with extensive experience in ultrasound presented a systematic methodology to evaluate the structures within the pelvic sidewall and define useful sonographic landmarks.
This approach can improve the diagnosis of gynecological pathologies such as deep endometriosis or malignant tumors ensuring patients receive the appropriate intervention for their condition.
The team of experts led by Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary described five categories of anatomical structures. These were muscles, vessels, lymph nodes, nerves, and ureters.
They outlined a step-by-step transvaginal or transrectal ultrasound approach to evaluate each anatomical landmark within these areas. For each category, they described the normal anatomy, followed by a step-by-step ultrasound methodology to identify different structures
To do so, they produced a series of video clips showing normal and abnormal findings within each category thereby presenting a universally applicable approach that can help evaluate the pelvic sidewall and identify pathologies affecting it.
“Transvaginal or transrectal ultrasound . . . represents a viable alternative to magnetic resonance imaging in the preoperative evaluation of lesions affecting the pelvic sidewall, if performed by an expert sonographer,” they wrote in a report that they published in the scientific journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, “we strongly believe that education and training in ultrasound assessment of the pelvic sidewall should be embedded within the surgical curriculum and that this will improve patient care.”
Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39499650/
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