Using the ovarian vein to find the ovary

Computed tomograms of 68 adult women who had undergone contrast-enhanced, 5-mm helical computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis were retrospectively reviewed to determine whether the ovarian vein could be used to locate the ovary. Subjects were 17 to 84 years of age (mean 45 years); 31 scans were normal, and 37 showed pelvic masses. Both ovarian veins were identified at their termination and were followed into the pelvis by scrolling through the set of venous phase images with a manual cine-paging tool. All 68 left ovarian veins and 67 of 68 right ovarian veins were identified. All visualized ovarian veins led to a normal ovary or to an ovarian mass. There were no anatomic variations. In 13 ovaries displaced by pathology in the pelvis, the ovarian vein was correspondingly displaced and indicated the altered ovarian position. In all 14 patients with non-ovarian pelvic masses, ovarian veins led to the normal ovary; the vein and ovary were markedly displaced in three of these patients. On computed tomography, the ovarian vein can be consistently identified. By tracing the vein into the pelvis, the ovarian or non-ovarian nature of a pelvic mass can be determined.