Magnetic resonance imaging of benign adnexal disease

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an important role in localizing and characterizing pelvic masses, particularly adnexal masses. The multiplanar capability of MRI helps to locate an abnormality outside the ovary and facilitate the exclusion of malignancy. Its superior soft-tissue contrast features help to diagnose specific benign masses, including teratoma, endometrioma, and ovarian fibroma. In addition, cystic ovarian neoplastic lesions can be further characterized as benign versus malignant, particularly after gadolinium administration. An approach to adnexal evaluation using MRI is discussed based on these features.