Common diagnostic methods for uterine fibroids

  If there is a typical history and signs of uterine fibroids, and if the diagnosis is made by double diagnosis, there is no difficulty. However, misdiagnosis can sometimes occur in cases of very small asymptomatic fibroids, or in cases of fibroids combined with pregnancy, adenomyosis, or fibroids with cystic changes and adnexal inflammatory masses. In addition, uterine bleeding, pain, and pressure symptoms are not unique to fibroids. For those who cannot clearly identify or suspect the presence of submucosal fibroids in the uterine cavity, the following auxiliary tests are still needed  Cervical fibroids or broad ligament fibroids, especially when they grow up, often affect the correct diagnosis of fibroids due to the change in location. If the posterior cervical fibroid grows up, it can be embedded in the pelvic cavity and protrude into the vagina so that the posterior fornix disappears; or the upper cervical fibroid grows up and ascends into the abdominal cavity, while the normal uterine body sits on top of the cervical fibroid, treating the uterine body as a tumor.  Moreover, the cervix can be moved behind the pubic arch and it is difficult to expose clearly, especially when the fibroid grows to a certain extent in the broad ligament and is embedded in the pelvis or rises into the abdominal cavity, it is difficult to expose clearly when the cervix moves up. Therefore, any pelvic masses with difficult exposure of the cervix can help to diagnose fibroids in these two special areas.  Ultrasonography: Color B-ultrasound is more commonly used in clinical practice. It can show the enlarged uterus with irregular shape; the number, location, size and whether the fibroids are homogeneous or liquefied cystic lesions; and whether there is pressure on other organs around it.  Because of the density of tumor cells per unit volume, the content of connective tissue scaffolding structure and the different arrangement of tumor and cells in leiomyosarcoma nodules, leiomyosarcoma nodules show three basic changes in the scan: weak echogenicity, isoechogenicity and strong echogenicity. The weakly echogenic type has high cell density, high elastic fiber content, predominantly nested cell arrangement, and relatively abundant blood vessels. The strong echogenic type has more collagen fibers and the tumor cells are mainly arranged in bundles. Isoechoic type is in between. Posterior wall leiomyosarcoma, sometimes poorly visualized.  The harder the leiomyosarcoma, the more severe the attenuation, and benign attenuation is more pronounced than malignant. Acoustic penetration is enhanced in the case of myxoma degeneration. In case of malignancy, the necrotic area is enlarged and the echogenicity is disturbed. Therefore, ultrasound examination is useful for diagnosing leiomyosarcoma, differentiating whether it is degenerative or malignant, and also for identifying ovarian tumors or other pelvic masses.  Interstitial myoma or submucosal myoma often increases the size and deformation of the uterine cavity, so the size and direction of the uterine cavity can be detected with a uterine probe, which can help to determine the nature of the mass and to know whether there is a mass in the cavity and where it is located. However, it must be noted that the uterine cavity is often tortuous and curved, or obstructed by submucosal fibroids, so that the probe can not be fully explored, or for subplasma fibroids, the uterine cavity is often not enlarged, which causes misdiagnosis.  Radiographs: In calcified myomas, they appear as scattered consistent spots, or shell-like calcified envelopes, or rough and wavy honeycomb-like edges.  Diagnostic scraping: Small submucosal fibroids or dysfunctional uterine bleeding, endometrial polyps are not easily detected by double diagnosis and can be assisted by scraping. In the case of submucosal fibroids, the scraper feels a raised surface in the uterine cavity, which starts to rise high and then slides low, or feels something sliding in the uterine cavity.  However, scraping may cause bleeding, infection, necrosis, or even sepsis, and should be performed strictly aseptically and gently, and the scraped material should be sent for pathological examination. If submucosal myoma is suspected and the diagnosis and scraping is still not clear, hysterosalpingography can be used.  Hysterosalpingogram: The ideal hysterosalpingogram can not only show the number and size of submucosal fibroids, but also localize them. Therefore, it is very helpful in the early diagnosis of submucosal fibroids and the method is simple. The imaging radiographs in the presence of myomas show filling stumps in the uterine cavity.  CT and MRI: These two tests are usually not needed, as CT images are only detailed at specific levels and do not overlap each other. The CT image of benign uterine tumors is enlarged with a uniform structure and a density of +40 to + 60 H (+40 to +50 H in a normal uterus.) The MRI diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma shows different signals for the presence or absence of degeneration within the leiomyosarcoma, its type and its degree. If there is no degeneration or mild degeneration in the nucleus, the internal signal is more homogeneous. Conversely, those with significant degeneration show different signals.