The role of duplex ultrasound in the workup of pelvic congestion syndrome

Abstract

This article reports on an evaluation of using duplex ultrasound (DU) as a diagnostic technique in the diagnosis and follow-up of pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) due to its noninvasive nature that contrasts with other standard techniques, such as conventional venography (CV). To asses this study, the authors performed a comparative study using patients imaged with DU, computed tomography venography (CTV), and CV in order to measure the accuracy of DU in the PCS diagnosis. Their results showed that DU has a high sensitivity to identify abnormalities in the left ovarian vein, but not in the case of the right ovarian vein, reducing, in that case, both sensitivity and accuracy. They did not find significant differences between the accuracy of the different imaging modalities.