MRI Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about MRI, including details on magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging, brain tumors.

Tumor detection by diffusion-weighted MRI and ADC-mapping--initial clinical experiences in comparison to PET-CT.

Lichy MP, Aschoff P, Plathow C, Stemmer A, Horger W, Mueller-Horvat C, Steidle G, Horger M, Schafer J, Eschmann SM, Kiefer B, Claussen CD, Pfannenberg C, Schlemmer HP

Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany. matthias.lichy@med.uni-tuebingen.de

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical potential of diffusion-weighted-imaging (DWI) with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-mapping for tumor detection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-shot echo-planar-imaging DWI sequence with fat suppression and ability for navigator-based respiratory triggering was implemented. Nineteen patients (11 melanoma, 4 prostate cancer, 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and 3 lung cancer) were examined by positron emission tomography (PET) with an integrated computed tomography scanner (PET-CT) and DWI. Images at b = 0, 400, and 1000 s/mm2 were acquired and ADC maps were generated. PET examinations were used as a reference for tumor detection. Four hundred twenty-four regions of interest were used for DWI and 73 for PET data evaluation. RESULTS: DWI and ADC maps were of diagnostic quality. Metastases with increased tracer uptake were clearly visualized at b = 1000 s/mm2 with the exception of mediastinal lymph node metastases in cases of lung cancer. ADC mapping did not improve detection rates. CONCLUSIONS: DWI is a feasible clinical technique, improving the assessment of metastatic spread in routine magnetic resonance imaging examinations.

Published 16 August 2007 in Invest Radiol, 42(9): 605-13.
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