Diagnostic significance of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging scan in the presurgical determination of FIGO stage of endometrial cancer.

Purpose: To compare the presurgically determined FIGO (Federation International Gynaecology Obstetrics) stage of endometrial cancer based on ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the surgico-pathological disease stage.
Methods: 60 patients with histopathologically proven endometrial cancer were prospectively studied. Prior to surgical treatment, all patients underwent abdominal US and MRI. The imaging results were compared with the surgical histopathological findings.
Results: Imaging (US, MRI) staging accuracy for stage I identification was higher than the accuracy of advanced FIGO stages of endometrial cancer. Total accuracy of determination of all disease stages was significantly higher using MRI.
Conclusion: US is not adequate for overall presurgical FIGO stage assessment, but does have satisfactory accuracy in determining tumor spread in the uterus itself and can be applied when MRI scanner is not available and when the risk of extrauterine disease expansion is low. MRI examination should be applied in all cases when there is suspicion for extrauterine spread into other pelvic and abdominal organs.