Apparent diffusion coefficients of normal uterus in premenopausal women with 3 T MRI

To investigate the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the normal uterine cervical zonal structures (cervical epithelium, the junctional zone, and myometrium) during different phases of the menstrual cycle among premenopausal women in different age groups.

Seventy healthy women, who were divided into three age groups (group A, 24 women in their twenties; group B, 23 women in their thirties; group C, 23 women in their forties), underwent 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) during the mid-proliferative and the mid-secretory phases.

The ADC values of each cervical zonal structure were significantly different from one another (p < 0.001). The ADC values of the epithelium and junctional zones were both lower during the mid-secretory phase than those during the mid-proliferative phase in each age group (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the ADC values of any of the cervical zones among the three age groups for a given phase (p > 0.05).

ADC values of normal cervical epithelium and the junctional zone change with different phases of the menstrual cycle, which should be taken into consideration when early cervical disease is detected, when monitoring treatment response, and differentiating early tumour recurrence.