Diffusion-weighted MR microimaging of the lacrimal glands in patients with Sjogren's syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to detect quantitative diffusion-weighted abnormalities in the lacrimal glands of patients with Sjogren's syndrome.


METHODS
Diffusion-weighted MRI was performed on 31 healthy volunteers and 11 Sjogren's syndrome patients with impaired lacrimal function. The volunteers and patients underwent MRI with a single-shot spin-echo echo-planar technique using a 47-mm microscopy coil. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the lacrimal and parotid glands was obtained with b factors of 500 and 1,000 sec/mm(2). T1-weighted and fat-suppressed T2-weighted MR microscopic images were also obtained to evaluate the gland morphology and signals.


RESULTS
MR microscopy provided high-resolution images of the lacrimal glands that enabled ADC measurements. The ADCs of the normal lacrimal glands showed no significant sex- or age-related changes. The ADCs for the lacrimal glands were significantly higher than those of the parotid glands in the same subjects (mean +/- SD, 891 +/- 103 vs 703 +/- 84 x 10(-6) mm(2)/sec, respectively; p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test). We found that ADCs of the lacrimal glands in Sjogren's syndrome patients were significantly lower than those from the normal glands of age-matched healthy volunteers (736 +/- 34 vs 923 +/- 84 x 10(-6) mm(2)/sec; p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that the measurement of ADCs may be a useful tool to assess abnormalities of the lacrimal glands in patients with Sjogren's syndrome.
Kawai
Yosuke
Y
Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan.
Sumi
Misa
M
Kitamori
Hideki
H
Takagi
Yukinori
Y
Nakamura
Takashi
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007765:Lacrimal Apparatus / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric