Role of multi-detector CT venography in evaluation of pelvic congestion syndrome

Background Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) is a problematic cause of chronic pelvic pain in women. It is thought to result from venous insufficiency of either ovarian or pelvic veins. Patients also present a variety of symptoms including dysuria and dyspareunia as well as vulva and buttock varicosities. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of multi-detector CT (MDCT) in diagnosis of PCS. Two hundred patients were included in our study and underwent CT venography of the abdomen and pelvis. Results We performed a prospective comparative study conducted on 200 patients. Thirty patients (15%) were diagnosed as PCS. There were congestion of the ovarian venous plexus and uterine venous engorgement in all patients. Filling of the veins across the midline was noted in 10 patients and filling of the vulval and thigh varicosities was noted in 3 patients. Ten patients had right ovarian vein dilatation; 12 patients had left ovarian vein dilatation; while 8 patients had bilateral ovarian vein dilatation. The right ovarian vein mean diameter (± SD) = 7.1 ± 0.8 mm; while the left ovarian vein mean diameter (± SD) = 7.6 ± 1 mm. Left ovarian venous reflux was found in 6 cases while no pathological reflux depicted on right side. Conclusions CT venography is considered as one of the initial investigations for the diagnosis of PCS in female patients with chronic pelvic pain making the further assessment by ovarian venography is for interventional management of diagnosed cases.