CT Diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh and Curtis Syndrome: Value of the Arterial Phase Scan

Abstract

We wanted to evaluate the role of the arterial phase (AP) together with the portal venous phase (PP) scans in the diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (FHCS) with using computed tomography (CT). Twenty-five patients with FHCS and 25 women presenting with non-specifically diagnosed acute abdominal pain and who underwent biphasic CT examinations were evaluated. The AP scan included the upper abdomen, and the PP scan included the whole abdomen. Two radiologists blindly and retrospectively reviewed the PP scans first and then they reviewed the AP plus PP scans. The diagnostic accuracy of FHCS on each image set was compared for each reader by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Az). Weighted kappa (wk) statistics were used to measure the interobserver agreement for the presence of CT signs of the pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) on the PP images and FHCS as the diagnosis based on the increased perihepatic enhancement on both sets of images. The individual diagnostic accuracy of FHCS was higher on the biphasic images (Az = 0.905 and 0.942 for reader 1 and 2, respectively) than on the PP images alone (Az = 0.806 and 0.706, respectively). The interobserver agreement for the presence of PID on the PP images was moderate (wk = 0.530). The interobserver agreement for FHCS as the diagnosis was moderate on only the PP images (wk = 0.413), but it was substantial on the biphasic images (wk = 0.719). Inclusion of the AP scan is helpful to depict the increased perihepatic enhancement, and it improves the diagnostic accuracy of FHCS on CT.