Elastosonography: a possible new tool for diagnosis of adenomyosis?

Abstract

Adenomyosis is a disorder defined by the presence of ectopic endometrial glands and stroma within the myometrium. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) is currently the first-line examination for this condition and the aim of this paper is to relate a pilot experience that was conducted using TVU to evaluate adenomyosis and which started from the assumption that tissues with anatomopathological differences show different elasticity values. Using standard B-mode analysis and elastosonography, we evaluated 30 consecutive women with suspected uterine adenomyosis. In 15 cases the diagnosis was confirmed by histology. The adenomyotic area presented more softness (red and green) compared with the surrounding uterine tissue (blue); the borders of the adenomyotic area corresponded to the borders of the green area. These preliminary results suggest that elastosonography could be considered a useful tool in the diagnosis of adenomyosis because it is non-invasive, easy to understand, easy to perform, and has a short learning curve towards becoming skilled at the procedure.