Assessment of the Vascularity of Uterine Leiomyomas Using Double-Echo Dynamic Perfusion-Weighted MRI With the First-Pass Pharmacokinetic Model: Correlation With Histopathology

OBJECTIVES:To retrospectively evaluate the feasibility of perfusion-weighted MRI (PWI) in uterine leiomyomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Eighteen uterine leiomyomas in 15 patients were evaluated. PWI was performed using a double-echo T2*-weighted spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition sequence, and the first-pass pharmacokinetic model was applied to calculate relative blood volume (rBV). Histopathologic analysis was performed to measure vascular area (VA). RESULTS:PWI was successful in 13 of 15 patients. On quantitative analysis, mean (±SD) rBV calculated from PWI was 0.17 ± 0.13 (range, 0.06–0.55), whereas mean VA was 3.3% ± 1.6% (range, 1.7–8.5%). A significant correlation was identified between rBV and VA (r = 0.87, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:The rBV determined at PWI correlates with histologic vascular area in uterine leiomyomas.