Combined ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging findings on cervical verrucous carcinoma with endometrial invasion - A case report

BACKGROUND: Cervical verrucous carcinoma is a rare form of cervical cancer. Very few reports present the correlation between diagnostic images and clinicopathologic findings. CASE: A 50-year-old woman was treated with laser ablation for cervical condyloma 6 years prior to her presentation with progressive vaginal bleeding and a foul-smelling discharge at our clinics in August 2004. Biopsy of the cervical mass was compatible with pathologic features of condyloma acuminata. Ultrasonography with color Doppler revealed a 5.9 x 4.1-cm, hyperechogenic mass with a honeycomb appearance in the lower uterine corpus and hypervascularization of the tumor with resistance indexes ranging from 0.41 to 0.47. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the tumor had a homogeneous intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous intensity on T2-weighted images. After administration of contrast medium, the tumor exhibited a lower signal intensity than did the surrounding cervical stroma. A human papillomavirus test was positive for types 11 and 53. Combined with the clinicopathologic findings, verrucous carcinoma of the cervix, stage Ib2, was suspected and the patient underwent radical hysterectomy and bilateral pelvic lymph node dissection. The final pathology report proved the impression of malignancy. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course, and no disease recurred during 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of cervical verrucous carcinoma requires a good clinical and pathologic correlation. Nevertheless, detailed imaging studies, such as ultrasound and MRI, as in our case, may provide valuable presurgical information for treatment.