Doppler Indices for Prediction of Benign and Malignant Ovarian Tumor

Abstract

Objective To determine the validity of pulsatility and resistance index of transabdominal Doppler ultrasound (e-flow) in distinguishing between benign and malignant adnexal masses
Study design Cross-sectional descriptive study
Settings Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University
Subjects The patients scheduled for elective surgery due to adnexal masses at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital between June, 2006 and July, 2007, were recruited into the study.
Methods All patients were sonographically evaluated for pulsatility and resistance index aided with color e-flow within 24 hours of surgery. All examinations were performed by the same experienced sonographer, who had no any information of the patients, to differentiate between benign and malignant adnexal masses based on sonographic morphology. The final diagnoses, used as gold standard, were based on either pathological or operative findings.
Main outcome measure Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of pulsatility and resistance index, using the best cutoff points obtained from the receiver operating characteristic curve
Results One hundred and seventy-nine patients were recruited and 15 were excluded since the masses were finally not proven to be adnexal masses. Of the remaining 164 cases available for analysis, 103 masses were benign and 61 were malignant. The sensitivity and specificity of pulsatility index were 95.1% and 88.3%, respectively and the sensitivity and specificity of resistance index were 95.1 % and 90.3%, respectively.
Conclusion Pulsatility and resistance index of transabdominal Doppler ultrasound (e-flow) has high accuracy in differentiating between benign and malignant adnexal masses.