Can cross-sectional imaging replace diagnostic venography in pelvic venous disorder (PeVD)?

The primary etiology of pelvic venous disorder is multifactorial and challengeable in vascular surgery as it mandates multidisciplinary team cooperation for its evaluation and management.

All patients investigated for pelvic venous disorder in a high-volume, tertiary referral university hospital were identified and analyzed retrospectively during the period (March 2021 through September 2022). Demographic and medical data were scored. Agreement between the noninvasive modalities (computed tomographic venography [CTV] or magnetic resonance venography [MRV]) and diagnostic venography in detecting the refluxing pelvic veins was analyzed. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy are also measured. No patients' treatments were reported in this study as the treatment is scheduled in other sessions in some cases and is out of the scope of this article. All patients had a diagnostic venogram regardless of the axial imaging modality. The main goal was to compare cross-sectional imaging with diagnostic venography.

The total number of patients was 120 with a mean age of 34.4 ± 7.1 years; 86.7% were multiparous. All patients presented chronic pelvic pain with vulvoperineal and/or atypical lower limb varicosities. Then patients were divided into two groups: those with CTV and those with MRV. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of CTV were 50%, 33%, and 47% for the detection of incompetent ovarian veins, 83%, 33%, and 53% for the detection of incompetent internal iliac veins, and 50%, 40%, and 47% for the detection of incompetent pelvic plexus veins, respectively, whereas time-resolved MRV achieved sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of 73%, 25%, and 60% for the detection of incompetent ovarian veins, 75%, 46%, and 53% for the detection of incompetent internal iliac veins, and 67%, 33% and 60% for detection of incompetent pelvic plexus veins, respectively.

The desire to avoid the drawbacks of diagnostic venography led to an increase in the use of noninvasive imaging modalities. Our results achieved acceptable sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy outcomes for cross-sectional imaging with the superiority of MRV over CTV in diagnosing PCS.