Time-Resolved MR Angiography in the Detection of Ovarian Venous Reflux

Introduction Chronic pelvic pain is a common health problem among women that is characterized by non-cyclic pelvic pain for more than 6 months in duration. It has been reported that as many as 39.1% of women had chronic pelvic pain at some time their liver. Pelvic congestion syndrome is defined as chronic pelvic pain caused by incompetent ovarian veins, which associated venous reflux and venous engorgement. For the detection of pelvic congestion syndrome, conventional angiography is currently considered the gold standard. However, this procedure is time-consuming, invasive, and necessitates the use of ionizing radiation. Several noninvasive techniques are used for workup of pelvic venous congestion, including ultrasound, CT, MRI. Time-resolved MR angiography has been proven to be a quick and noninvasive technique that allows evaluation of the physiologic blood flow. The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of time-resolved MR angiography with that of conventional angiography for detection of ovarian venous reflux, which aid for a diagnosis of pelvic venous congestion.