Clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for the differential diagnosis of specific subtypes of uterine leiomyomas

Objective To improve the accuracy of clinical diagnosis by analyzing different contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imagines of specific subtypes of uterine leiomyomas. Methods A total of 147 female patients received preoperative CEUS examination. The scanning plane of the biggest tumors for CEUS was found by common B-mode ultrasonographic scanning on pelvic cavity, then 1.5 mL SonoVue were injected into the median cubital vein. According to the CEUS images, the lesion enhanced time, enhanced level and enhanced morphology were recorded. The time-intensity curve was acquired and analyzed, meanwhile, the relevant parameters were calculated, including rise time (RT), peak intensity (PI), time to peak (TTP) and mean transit time (MTT). Results In cellular uterine leiomyoma group, the percentage of high enhancement, early enhancement was higher, equal enhancement and synchronic enhancement were lower than those in the common uterine leiomyomas group. In hysteromyoma with hyaline degeneration group, the percentage of high enhancement, early enhancement was lower, while low enhancement and delayed enhancement were higher than those in the common uterine leiomyomas group. The ratio of PI in cellular uterine leiomyoma group was the highest, but the ratios of RT, TTP and MTT were the lowest of the three benign groups. The ratio of PI in hysteromyoma with hyaline degeneration group was the lowest, while the ratios of RT and TTP was the highest among the three benign groups. Conclusion Different pathological types of uterine leiomyomas have their own signal performance on CEUS. CEUS can be used to infer their pathological types and help differential diagnosis.