Abstract
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common gynecological complaint. CPP is nonmenstrual
pain localized in the anatomic pelvis of at least 6 months' duration without any identifiable
organic cause that is severe enough to cause functional disability and require treatment.
Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) is a poorly understood disorder and often overlooked
cause of pelvic pain. Ovarian vein reflux (OVR) and pelvic varicosities are a cause
of PCS. On the other hand, OVR can be seen in asymptomatic women, typically parous.
OVR has a characteristic appearance at enhanced computed tomography (CT). Contrast
medium retrogradely fills the ovarian veins and parauterine veins during the arterial
phase after intravenous contrast administration. CT is not the ideal modality to evaluate
all the causes of pelvic pain, but CT is a commonly used diagnostic modality to screen
patient who presents with abdominal and pelvic pain. CT can demonstrate abnormal ovarian
venous flow as well as tortuous and dilated ovarian and pelvic veins. Ovarian vein
reflux is important to recognize and when correlated with patient clinical presentation
may help in the diagnosis of PCS.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 27, 2008
Accepted:
September 29,
2008
Received:
July 29,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
