THE VALUE OF ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF LEIOMYOMAS IN SOUTHEAST NIGERIA

BACKGROUND: Uterine leiomyoma has been found to be of high prevalence among black women. Ultrasound scanning, a safe and non-invasive method of making early and accurate diagnosis will be invaluable in the diagnosis of leiomyoma.Objective: To establish the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of uterine leiomyoma. Method: The ultrasound reports and surgical findings of the patients referred with uterine leiomyoma conditions from the gynecological unit of a Teaching Hospital in south east Nigeria, between January 2009 and December 2011 were considered for this study. The age of the women were noted. Their ultrasound finding/diagnosis was also noted, as well as the final diagnosis following the surgery. The association between the ultrasound diagnosis and the surgical diagnosis (accuracy of ultrasonography) was evaluated using tests of validity.Results: The total number of subjects that were scanned for uterine leiomyoma was 200 out of which 100 underwent surgery after sonographic examination. The highest number of subjects 55(55.0%) was seen in the 31 to 40 years age group and ultrasound was able to diagnose 87% as having uterine leiomyoma. The positive predictive value of ultrasound scanning for uterine leiomyoma was 96.7% and the negative predictive value was 50%. The sensitivity of ultrasonography for uterine leiomyoma was 94.5%, with a specificity of 62.5%, accuracy of 92% and diagnostic odd ratio (DOR) of 29.Conclusion: Test of validity revealed that ultrasound is a valuable tool in making diagnosis on women with this condition.