[Role of computerized tomography in the pre-second look re-staging of neoplasms of the ovary]

Twenty-five patients with ovarian carcinoma who had been operated and treated with chemotherapy underwent clinical examination and CT before reintervention (second-look laparotomy) to detect the presence of eventual recurrences. The prediction of recurrence based on CT and clinical findings was compared with the surgical findings at reintervention. CT proved to be more accurate than clinical examination in detecting recurrences; this was especially true for masses in the abdominal cavum, with the exception of small peritoneal nodules. The authors suggest the use of CT for staging the patients candidate to reintervention. This might help to avoid reintervention in patients with persistent disease and to plan treatment.