Role of computed abdominal tomography (C.A.T. Scan) in the follow up of ovarian tumors.

This study evaluates the possible use of computed tomography not as an alternative diagnostic method but, rather, as a supplement to laparotomy in patients treated for ovarian cancer. The following conclusions can be drawn: in patients presenting no clinical evidence of persistent or relapsing disease C.T. Scan is not a mandatory but, rather, an optional test since it entails 25% false negatives, a 66.6% predictive value and because the involved patients will need, in any case, a further intervention. Conversely, C.T. Scan is clearly indicated in patients presenting clinical evidence of disease. It can prove helpful in detecting metastases in areas that prove difficult to be clinically examined; in assessing whether the retroperitoneal areas conceal neoplastic tissue or in planning the right operation for masses that have been palpated only before chemotherapy, and then in regression. When, despite chemotherapy, tumour progresses, surgery may became useless, and the C.T. Scan may therefore prove helpful in defining the condition and guiding non surgical treatment. Therefore, in the follow up of ovarian cancer the C.T. Scan may be performed on the basis of clinical course, instead than on a rigid aprioristic planning.