On Friday 27 February 2026 at 14:00, Ina Marie Dueholm Hjorth defends her PhD dissertation entitled "Improved diagnosis of ovarian cancer - Risk assessment of adnexal masses in clinical practice". 

Systematic ultrasound assessment and structured diagnostic ultrasound and MRI models for guiding management of ovarian cysts and tumors are investigated in routine clinical care in a new PhD thesis from Aarhus University.

Accurate preoperative assessment of ovarian cysts and tumors is essential for timely detection and correct treatment of ovarian cancer while avoiding unnecessary surgery in the many women with benign ovarian conditions.
This thesis is based on three prospective clinical studies including more than 1,800 women examined in all hospitals in the Central Denmark Region.
The first study focuses on real-world implementation and evaluation of a structured ultrasound-based prediction model developed by the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) group. The study investigates the use of this model in routine ultrasound examinations performed by general gynecologists and compares its diagnostic performance with the previous standard-of-care. The subsequent studies examine patients referred for further imaging due to risk of cancer and compare expert ultrasound assessment with systematic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as the added diagnostic value of PET/CT scanning.

Overall, the thesis supports a shift in the standard of care towards using structured, systematic imaging.

The summary is written by the PhD student.

The defence is public and takes place in Auditorium G206-142, Entrance G, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Ina Marie Dueholm Hjorth
Mail: imdh@clin.au.dk
Phone: +45 26192456

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