VARIABILITY IN THE QUALITY OF ULTRASOUND REPORTING FOR UTERINE FIBROIDS IN CANADA

Objectives To evaluate the type of imaging performed for uterine fibroids, as well as assess whether ultrasound reporting of fibroids in Canada meets the quality standard defined by the Morphological Uterus Sonographic Assessment (MUSA) guideline Methods Women with symptomatic fibroids were enrolled in a prospective, non-interventional, observational registry at 19 Canadian sites (CAPTURE registry). Five ultrasound reporting quality criteria were evaluated: number of fibroids, largest fibroid volume, fibroid type, location and uterine volume. Results Of 1493 women, 1148 had ultrasound, 135 had MRI, 80 other, and 130 did not have imaging reported . After adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, patients with MRI were more likely to have larger fibroids (OR per 1cm increase 1.11 95% CI 1.05, 1.17) and more numerous (1 versus >1 fibroids) (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.14, 2.64) compared to those with ultrasound only. For ultrasound reporting, all quality criteria were met by 268/1148 (23.3%) reports. TThere was a difference (p =400,000) were more likely to receive a high quality ultrasound report (OR 6.15, 95%CI 2.20, 17.18). Conclusions Choice of imaging modality for uterine fibroids is associated with patient characteristics. The quality of fibroid ultrasound reporting in Canada does not meet internationally endorsed guidelines and is in need of improvement.