Value of Advanced MRI Techniques in the Assessment of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a common gynaecological disease, mostly in women of reproductive age, with a prevalence of about 10 %, which is defined by the presence of endometrial-type tissue outside the uterine cavity. Endometriosis is usually limited to the abdominal and especially the pelvic cavity, extra-abdominal lesions are rare. Within the pelvis it shows a wide variety of locations predominantly affecting the ovaries and the uterus or the peritoneum, uterine ligaments and other pelvic structures. Traditionally, there are three major phenotypes of endometriosis: Ovarian endometrioma (OMA), superficial peritoneal endometriosis (SPE), and deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE). A lesion is considered a DIE, if it shows infiltration deeper than 5 mm into the peritoneum. The ectopic endometrial implants may induce inflammatory processes, causing scar tissue formation, adhesions, and consequently pelvic anatomy distortion.

The prospective study aims to investigate the value of advanced MRI techniques to improve the assessment of pelvic endometriosis.