Diseases of the female pelvis: advances in imaging evaluation.

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been widely accepted as a powerful imaging modality for the evaluation of the pelvis because of its intrinsic superior soft tissue contrast compared with that of computed tomography. In certain cases, however, the morphologic study provided by MR imaging may not be enough. Functional evaluation with perfusion and diffusion, which allow estimation of the microvascular characteristics and cellularity of the lesions, favors the differentiation of benign from malignant lesions. This article focuses on new magnetic resonance techniques and their contribution to the differentiation and characterization of pelvic pathologies.