title: Diffusion-weighted MR microimaging of the lacrimal glands in patients with Sjogren's syndrome.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan.
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Misa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sumi
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitamori
authors.forename: Yukinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: 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