Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging and transvaginal ultrasonography with hysterosalpingography in the evaluation of women exposed to diethylstilbestrol.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the ability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transvaginal ultrasound (TV-US) with that of hysterosalpingography (HSG) in detecting uterine abnormalities caused by in utero diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure.

STUDY

DESIGN

The study was a prospective MRI and TV-US blind comparison of DES-exposed and nonexposed subjects who had had previous HSG for infertility evaluation.

RESULTS

MRI identified uterine constrictions in 60% of patients and T-shaped uteri in 25% of DES-exposed patients with HSG-confirmed abnormalities. TV-US did not identify uterine constrictions or T-shaped uteri in DES-exposed patients.

CONCLUSION

HSG must still be considered the preferred method in evaluating DES-related uterine abnormalities. HSG-defined uterine abnormalities associated with in utero DES exposure were variably identified by MRI and not at all by TV-US.