The value of diffusion-weighted imaging in combination with T2-weighted imaging for rectal cancer detection.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in combination with T(2)-weighted imaging (T(2)WI) for the detection of rectal cancer as compared with T(2)WI alone.


METHODS
Forty-five patients with rectal cancer and 20 without rectal cancer underwent DWI with parallel imaging and T(2)WI on a 1.5 T scanner. Images were independently reviewed by two readers blinded to the results to determine the detectability of rectal cancer. The detectability of T(2)W imaging without and with DW imaging was assessed by means of receiver operating characteristic analysis. The interobserver agreement between the two readers was calculated with kappa statistics.


RESULTS
The ROC analysis showed that each of two readers achieved more accurate results with T(2)W imaging combined with DW imaging than with T(2)W imaging alone significantly. The A(z) values for the two readers for each T(2)WI and T(2)WI combined with DWI were 0.918 versus 0.991 (p=0.0494), 0.934 versus 0.997 (p=0.0475), respectively. The values of kappa were 0.934 for T(2)WI and 0.948 for T(2)WI combined with DWI between the two readers.


CONCLUSIONS
The addition of DW imaging to conventional T(2)W imaging provides better detection of rectal cancer.
Rao
Sheng-Xiang
SX
Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Road, 200032 Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Zeng
Meng-Su
MS
Chen
Cai-Zhong
CZ
Li
Ren-Chen
RC
Zhang
Shu-Jie
SJ
Xu
Jian-Ming
JM
Hou
Ying-Yong
YY
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*