MR evaluation of cervical cancer in hysterectomy specimens: correlation of quantitative T2 measurement and histology.

Specimens from modified radical hysterectomies performed for invasive carcinoma of the cervix were analyzed with quantitative T2 magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and histologic study to determine to what degree there was a correlation between the findings of the two modalities. The mean T2 of cervical stroma was 48 msec, while the outer zone of the cervix had a mean T2 of 62 msec and the central canal region typically had T2 values of 115 msec +/- 20 (standard deviation). A total of nine cervical cancers were analyzed, and their mean T2 value was 79 msec. Separation between cervical stroma and tumor was good, with stromal T2 values ranging from 30 to 66 msec, while tumor T2s ranged from 60 to 97 msec. Statistical analysis indicated that these data were associated with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 95%, with 95% confidence intervals of [50%, 99.4%] and [74%, 99.7%], respectively, for separating tumor from stroma on the basis of T2 value. Quantitative T2 imaging was found to provide an effective, nonsubjective means of classifying cervical anatomy and neoplastic disease.