Diagnosis of focal liver lesions suspected of metastases by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI): systematic comparison favors free-breathing technique

Pascal A T Baltzer; Juliane Schelhorn; Matthias Benndorf; Matthias Dietzel; Werner A Kaiser

doi:10.1016/j.clinimag.2012.02.018

Diagnosis of focal liver lesions suspected of metastases by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI): systematic comparison favors free-breathing technique

Clin Imaging. 2013 Jan-Feb;37(1):97-103. doi: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2012.02.018. Epub 2012 Jun 8.

Authors

Pascal A T Baltzer¹, Juliane Schelhorn, Matthias Benndorf, Matthias Dietzel, Werner A Kaiser

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University hospital Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07740 Jena. [email protected]

PMID: 23206614
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2012.02.018

Abstract

Two echo planar imaging diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques [one breath hold (DWI(bh)), repetition time/echo time (TR/TE) 2100/62 ms; one at free breathing (DWI(fb)), TR/TE 2000/65 ms] were compared regarding diagnosis of focal liver lesions (FLLs) in 45 patients with suspected liver metastasis without prior treatment. Apparent diffusion coefficient values of 46 benign and 67 malignant FLLs were analyzed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. DWI(fb) detected more malignant lesions than DWI(bh) (P=.002). Lesion size ≤10 mm was associated with FLLs missed by DWI(bh) (P=.018). Area under the ROC curve of DWI(fb) (0.801) was higher compared to that of DWI(bh) (0.669, P<.0113), demonstrating the diagnostic superiority of DWI(fb).

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Breath Holding*
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Echo-Planar Imaging / methods*
Female
Humans
Image Enhancement / methods*
Liver Neoplasms / pathology*
Liver Neoplasms / secondary*
Male
Middle Aged
Reproducibility of Results
Respiratory-Gated Imaging Techniques / methods*
Sensitivity and Specificity