title: Discrimination of brain abscess from necrotic or cystic tumors by diffusion-weighted echo planar imaging.
abstract: Diagnostic difficulties in discriminating brain abscess from necrotic or cystic tumors using conventional CT and MRI have been reported. In this article, we examine the diagnostic ability of diffusion-weighted imaging to discriminate brain abscess from necrotic or cystic tumors. In previous reports, necrotic or cystic tumors show low signal intensity in diffusion-weighted imaging, indicating a high apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). In contrast, in our study, high signal intensity was observed in the abscess fluid, associated with low ADC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Meiji College of Oriental Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ebisu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Umeda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naruse
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003560:Cysts / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009336:Necrosis