The diagnostic value of multimodality MRI in endometrial carcinoma staging

Background Multimodality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging technology that is used to integrate the structural and functional information of lesions. MRI can determine the staging of endometrial carcinoma, provide guidance for selection of surgical treatment and postoperative prognostic assessment, and has an important role in improving the survival of patients with endometrial carcinoma. Purpose To evaluate multimodality MRI staging accuracy for endometrial carcinoma based on the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO 2009) staging system. Material and Methods This is a retrospective study of the complete clinical and surgical pathology data from 83 patients with endometrial carcinoma treated between June 2011 and August 2015. Using a blind design, the preoperative clinical staging according to the current FIGO2009 MRI-based staging for each endometrial carcinoma was analyzed and corrected by postoperative histopathological results, which served as the staging standard. The role of multimodality MRI on clinical staging accuracy for endometrial carcinoma was studied. Results Based on the pathological evaluation after surgery, the 83 endometrial carcinoma patients were staged according to the current FIGO2009 staging criteria as: stage I, n = 56; stage II, n = 17; stage III, n = 7; and stage IV, n = 3. The multimodality MRI staging accuracy for endometrial carcinoma stages I-IV by FIGO2009 were 91.6% (76/83), 91.6% (76/83), 92.8% (77/83), and 97.6% (81/83), respectively. Conclusion Multimodality MRI is an important imaging tool in the pre-operative clinical staging of endometrial carcinoma. The current FIGO staging system appears to be a concise, reasonable, and practical set of criteria for the clinical management of endometrial carcinoma.