[Sonographic diagnosis of ovarian tumors: pre-operative Doppler evaluation]

Pelvic sonography is the gold standard for diagnosis of ovarian masses. Only 2% of adnexal masses or malignant or bordeline tumors. Does Doppler US improve the diagnostic accuracy of sonography? The purpose of this article is to review current data and identify what areas still require further evaluation with regards to Doppler characterization of adnexal masses. It has been shown that Doppler evaluation of the ovary and cyst or tumor improves the diagnostic accuracy of US to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions. Hemodynamic data collected from pulsed Doppler imaging and Doppler energy vascular mapping have been shown to improve the characterization of malignant lesions. These data improve the accuracy of B-mode US combined with clinical evaluation and CA125 measurement. Nonetheless, the sensitivity and specificity values are between 85-90%, with few missed malignancies, but several false positive results. Useful Doppler data include the resistive index and the central intratumoral location of vascular flow. The use of 3D US with computer post-processing as well as sonographic contrast agents could provide additional information, but these techniques have not yet been validated. All suspicious adnexal lesions should be evaluated by an experienced sonographer and include discriminatory parameters to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions.