الفهرس 
Anatomy of the Uterine CervixOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Cervical carcinoma is the third most common gynecologic malignancy and once cervical cancer is diagnosed its stage must be determined. Accurate cervical cancer staging is crucial for appropriate treatment selection and treatment planning.
The greatest difficulties in the clinical staging are the estimation of tumor size, especially if the tumor is primarily endocervical in location, the assessment of parametrial and pelvic sidewall invasion and the evaluation of lymph node and distant metastases.
MRI has excellent soft-tissue contrast resolution, which exceeds that of CT and US. Consequently, MRI is significantly more valuable in the assessment of the size of the tumor, the depth of cervical invasion, and the local-regional extent of the disease. MRI is accurate staging modality but not warranted in patients with small-volume early disease (<2 cm³) because of the low probability of parametrial invasion and nodal metastasis.
The precision of MRI can be improved substantially by using a localized receiver coil close to the area of interest .The spatial resolution of the endovaginal technique ensures that very small tumors and even early spread to the parametrium can be detected. The smallest tumor noted on endovaginal MRI is approximately 0.1 cm³.
Endovaginal MRI requires both T1W and T2W images in two planes. The sagittal plane is most useful for imaging the tumor, assessing the distance from the edge of the cervix and assessing vaginal involvement. The transverse plane is critical for assessing parametrial involvement.