Comparison of Doppler Waveform Index in Benign and Malignant Ovarian Tumor

Yoo, Jung Bae; Roh, Jae Sook; Kim, Kyung Tai; Cho, Sam Hyun; Moon, Hyung; Hwang, Yoon Yeoung

Abstract

Doppler sonography has been introduced to evaluate uterine and ovarian diseases. It has been reported to be used to distinguish benign from malignant adnexal masses. The purpose of this study was to assess the blood flow characteristics of adnexal masses and to determine the optimal cut-off points for the Doppler indices obtained, resistance index and pulsatility index, to best differentiate benign from malignant lesions. We performed pulsed Doppler ultrasound in seventy-eight adnexal masses between February 1989 and June 1994. The pulsatility and resistance index were calculated from the waveforms generated from blood flow within the ovary. There were 51 benign and 27 malignant histologically proved ovarian lesions. All women have been operated on. The results were as follows ; Benign tumors and cysts had a significantly higher pulsatility index(mean, 1.23+/-0.74; range, 4.46-3.36) and resistance index(mean, 0.64+/-0.19; range 0.34-1.43) than did malignant tumors(pulsatility index : mean, 0.87+/-0.49; range, 0.31-2.27; resistance index : mean, 0.50+/-17; range, 0.23-0.8). However, some overlap in individual values for benign and malignant lesions was found. In conclusion, our data suggest that high pulsatility and resistance indices may indicate benign adnexal masses ; however, considerable overlap in pulsatility and resistance indices between benign and malignant lesions were noted, and further work will be needed before the validity of these factors is proved.