Patient Case Study: Endometriosis

Planning to attend RSNA this December? We’re excited to be there, too! As we gear up for the event, we’re sharing a series of patient case studies to showcase how proactive healthcare—and advanced whole-body MRI—can transform patient outcomes across various conditions.

Our second case dives into how proactive imaging can benefit patients with endometriosis, a chronic condition that often goes undiagnosed for years. Whole-body MRI screening can provide valuable insights, improving both diagnosis and management by identifying disease extent and associated complications early.

Here are the details...

Patient History

• A healthy 38-year-old woman with a prior history of back pain after the birth of her first child came to Prenuvo seeking a proactive, whole body MRI (WB-MRI).?

Findings

• The scan showed evidence of endometriosis in the left ovary and the perineum (space between the pubic bone and tail bone).??

How the Prenuvo Scan Impacted Patient Care

• Endometriosis is a chronic condition where tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) grows outside of it. This can cause pain, bleeding, inflammation, and infertility, affecting about 10% of childbearing age women worldwide.
• Unfortunately, endometriosis is often missed and studies have shown an average delay of 6.7 years between the onset of symptoms (often first occurring in adolescence) and diagnosis. In this case, WB-MRI proved very useful in finding and locating endometriomas (growths); this method can assist healthcare providers to better manage the condition while relieving symptoms, providing an improved quality of life with less pain.
• Providers often use pelvic ultrasound or dedicated MRI (once troublesome symptoms have already started) to spot endometriomas and see how far the disease has spread; WB-MRI can be especially helpful for early detection, especially if presenting symptoms are unusual or if the disease exists outside the pelvis.

We love hearing impactful stories like this from our patients and radiology team. Stay tuned for more cases coming soon!

If you're heading to RSNA, we’d love to connect—visit us at booth #1239. See you there!

References:

Zondervan KT, Becker CM, Missmer SA. Endometriosis. N Engl J Med. ?2020;382:1244–56. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1810764.

Parasar P, Ozcan P, Terry KL. Endometriosis: epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical management. Curr Obstet Gynecol Rep. 2017;6(1):34-41. doi:10.1007/s13669-017-0187-1.