MRI visualization of the female pelvis in the plane of the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) procedure.

We evaluated the distances and angles of the major blood vessels from various pelvic structures in the plane of the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) procedure in 19 pelvic MR imagies. The major blood vessels were the iliofemoral vessels. The mean distance of the left iliofemoral vessels from the midline was 5.7+/-0.4 cm, and 5.7+/-0.3 cm for the right vessels. The mean distance of the left sacral tuberosities from the midline was 5.5+/-0.4 cm, and 5.6+/-0.3 cm for the right vessels. The angle between the midurethra and the left iliofemoral vessels was 50.6+/-4.4 cm, and 49.6+/-4.0 cm for the right. A significant correlation was found between the distance of the right and left iliofemoral vessels from the midline and the distance of right and left sacral tuberosities from the midline ( P<0.01, P<0.007). We suggest that palpation of the sacral tuberosities might indicate the location of the iliofemoral blood vessels.