الفهرس 
Basic and radiological anatomy of female pelvic floorOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Pelvic floor dysfunction is the cause of many different clinical problems such as urinary incontinence, prolapse, fecal incontinence, and other defecation disorders. These pelvic floor disorders are frequent problems among the whole population, but mostly afflict elderly, multi-parous women.
Various imaging modalities are used for assessment of pelvic floor dysfunction as urodynamic studies, traditional fluoroscopic methods and ultrasonography. The disadvantages of these techniques are: dependence on ionizing radiation and assessment of only one compartment at a time as in fluoroscopic imaging, or dependance on operator experience with poor soft-tissue contrast and a limited field of view as in sonographic imaging.
MRI has become nowadays the method of choice for diagnosis and research of pelvic floor disorders. Besides the lack of ionizing radiation MRI is widely appreciated for its superior soft tissue contrast and multiplanar imaging capability, which allows an excellent morphological delineation of the anatomical situation.
For better assessment of the functional interactions of the pelvic floor system and the related pathologies such as prolapse, a dynamic examination is essential. The development of stronger, faster gradients and ultrafast T2-weighted pulse sequences now permits dynamic evaluation of the pelvic compartments with near real time visualization.
Combined analysis of both static and dynamic MR imaging is an important diagnostic resource in triaging patients to surgery and in helping surgeons plan specific repairs. It provides clinicians with an objective assessment of the problem in a single examination. In addition, MR imaging has tremendous potential to be used as a research tool in trying to understand the pathophysiology of these complex disorders. It is hoped that better insight into the mechanisms of this disease will lead to more efficient treatment planning.