Diagnosis of uterine fibroids and adenomyoma

  Judging by clinical symptoms: Patients usually have a history of dysmenorrhea, often starting one or two days before their period, continuing throughout their period, and remaining painful for several days after their period ends. Some women have a combination of anemia, excessive menstrual bleeding, painful intercourse, and infertility.  Internal gynecological examination: Diffuse hypertrophy of the uterus, usually in the form of a ball, can be found. The uterus may be enlarged during menstruation and may be painful on internal examination, shrinking slightly at the end of menstruation, and the painful pressure may disappear.  Ultrasound: Ultrasound is the most common and easy method of diagnosis. It can show the enlargement of the uterus, irregular shape, number, location, size of fibroids and whether they are homogeneous or liquefied or cystic inside. Ultrasonography is helpful in diagnosing uterine fibroids and providing a reference to differentiate between fibroids and adenomyoma and whether there is degeneration of fibroids, as well as to differentiate them from ovarian tumors or other pelvic masses.  Magnetic resonance imaging: MRI is very much used abroad to examine gynecological diseases. In China, its importance is also gradually recognized clinically. Because MRI is not only free of ionizing radiation hazards, but also has very high soft tissue resolution and functional imaging capability; especially the combination of MRI diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic enhanced MRI can help doctors clearly and accurately identify whether the lesion is a uterine fibroid, adenomyoma, or malignant uterine sarcoma.  Moreover, before MRI-guided focused ultrasound or laparoscopic surgery, MRI also helps physicians understand the exact number, size, and location of fibroids before surgery to determine whether they are degenerative and which treatment modality is more appropriate.  Diagnostic curettage: The uterine cavity is probed for size and direction by means of a uterine probe to feel the cavity pattern and to know if there is a mass in the uterine cavity and where it is located. In patients with abnormal uterine bleeding who often need to identify endometrial lesions, diagnostic curettage is of great value.  Hysteroscopy: Hysteroscopy allows direct observation of the morphology of the uterine cavity and the presence of superfluous organisms and can be used for the diagnosis and removal of submucosal fibroids.  In addition, the glyco-antigen CA-125 is sometimes elevated in patients with adenomyosis and can be used as a diagnostic reference.