High-b value diffusion-weighted MRI for detecting pancreatic adenocarcinoma: preliminary results.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of our study was to evaluate the usefulness of high-b value diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) in the detection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.


METHODS
Twenty-six patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were included in the study. Twenty-three other patients who were being followed up due to pancreatic diseases other than adenocarcinoma were included as control subjects. All patients and subjects underwent DWI, and the images were evaluated by three blinded radiologists.


RESULTS
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis yielded A(z) values (i.e., area under the ROC curve) of 0.998, 0.998, and 0.995 for the three radiologists. The mean sensitivity and specificity for the detection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma were 96.2% and 98.6%, respectively. The kappa values indicating interobserver agreement between different pairs of radiologists were in the category of excellent.


CONCLUSIONS
High-b value DWI allows the detection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma with a high sensitivity and specificity.
Ichikawa
Tomoaki
T
Department of Radiology, University of Yamanashi, Shimokato, Japan.
Erturk
Sukru Mehmet
SM
Motosugi
Utarou
U
Sou
Hironobu
H
Iino
Hiroshi
H
Araki
Tsutomu
T
Fujii
Hideki
H
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000465:Algorithms; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity