Transvaginal Ultrasound Combined with Strain-Ratio Elastography for the Concomitant Diagnosis of Uterine Fibroids and Adenomyosis: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Uterine fibroids (UFs) and adenomyosis (AM) represent two benign uterine conditions that can affect fertility and are most frequently commonly responsible for abnormal uterine bleeding and chronic pelvic pain. Their differential diagnosis still represents a challenge, and several authors advise the addition of elastography to transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) for a more accurate imagistic recognition. Through this study, we aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of TVUS combined with strain-ratio elastography (SRE) in concomitant AM and UFs. We conducted a study on 17 patients diagnosed with concomitant UFs and AM undergoing hysterectomy and 46 healthy patients. TVUS combined with SRE was conducted in each patient, focusing on identifying rigidity patterns of the lesions. Significantly higher mean SR and maximum SR values were identified among both AM and UF lesions as opposed to controls (p < 0.01), with the highest tissue stiffness being encountered among AM lesions, which allows for the differentiation of UF (p < 0.01) and concomitant identification of both lesions. These results are reflected by higher cut-off values obtained for AM, both for mean SR (5.42 vs. 2.85) and maximum SR (5.80 vs. 3.30). TVUS combined with SRE showed good diagnostic performance in identifying coexisting UFs and AM within the same uterine specimen. Future studies on wider populations are required to validate our findings.