Role of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography/computed tomography in preoperative lymph node detection of uterine cervical cancer

Objective The aim of this study was to compare magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the preoperative detection of lymph node metastases in patients with uterine cervical cancer. Study Design This retrospective study reviewed patients with cervical cancer who had undergone both preoperative MRI and PET/CT before radical surgery, including lymphadenectomy between 2004–2008. Results Eighty-three patients were identified, of whom 28 (33.7%) had pelvic lymph node metastasis. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for detecting lymph node metastasis were 64.3%, 69.1%, and 67.5% for MRI, and 28.6%, 83.6%, and 65.1% for PET/CT, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristics for the MRI and PET/CT were 0.667 and 0.561, respectively ( P = .013). MRI showed significantly higher sensitivity for detecting metastatic lymph nodes than PET/CT ( P = .006). Conclusion MRI was more sensitive than PET/CT for detecting metastatic lymph node in patients with cervical cancer.