Tubo-Ovarian Abscess (with/without Pseudotumor Area) Mimicking Ovarian Malignancy: Role of Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging with Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Values

Objective

To assess the added value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values compared to MRI, for characterizing the tubo-ovarian abscesses (TOA) mimicking ovarian malignancy.

Materials and Methods

Patients with TOA (or ovarian abscess alone; n = 34) or ovarian malignancy (n = 35) who underwent DWI and MRI were retrospectively reviewed. The signal intensity of cystic and solid component of TOAs and ovarian malignant tumors on DWI and the corresponding ADC values were evaluated, as well as clinical characteristics, morphological features, MRI findings were comparatively analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis based on logistic regression was applied to identify different imaging characteristics between the two patient groups and assess the predictive value of combination diagnosis with area under the curve (AUC) analysis.

Results

The mean ADC value of the cystic component in TOA was significantly lower than in malignant tumors (1.04 ± 0 .41 × 10⁻³ mm²/s vs. 2.42 ± 0.38 × 10⁻³ mm²/s; p < 0.001). The mean ADC value of the enhanced solid component in 26 TOAs was 1.43 ± 0.16×10⁻³mm²/s, and 46.2% (12 TOAs; pseudotumor areas) showed significantly higher signal intensity on DW-MRI than in ovarian malignancy (mean ADC value 1.44 ± 0.20×10⁻³ mm²/s vs.1.18 ± 0.36 × 10⁻³ mm²/s; p = 0.043). The combination diagnosis of ADC value and dilated tubal structure achieved the best AUC of 0.996. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of MRI vs. DWI with ADC values for predicting TOA were 47.1%, 91.4%, 84.2%, 64%, and 69.6% vs. 100%, 97.1%, 97.1%, 100%, and 98.6%, respectively.

Conclusions

DW-MRI is superior to MRI in the assessment of TOA mimicking ovarian malignancy, and the ADC values aid in discriminating the pseudotumor area of TOA from the solid portion of ovarian malignancy.