High b-value diffusion (b = 3000 s/mm2) MR imaging in cerebral gliomas at 3T: visual and quantitative comparisons with b = 1000 s/mm2.
OBJECTIVE
High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) provides different features not appreciated at lower b-value and have been recently studied in several clinical issues. The purpose of this study was to assess whether DWI at b = 3000 s/mm(2) is more useful in discriminating high-grade and low-grade gliomas than DWI at b = 1000 s/mm(2) at 3T.


METHODS
DWIs at both b = 1000 and 3000 s/mm(2) were performed at 3T in 62 patients, 49 high-grade gliomas (20 World Health Organization [WHO] grade III and 29 grade IV) and 13 low-grade gliomas (13 grade II). Visual assessments based on 5-point scaled evaluations, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and quantitative assessment based on DWI signal intensity (SI) ratio (tumor SI/normal SI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were compared between DWIs at b = 1000 and 3000 s/mm(2).


RESULTS
By visual assessment, DWI at b = 3000 s/mm(2) showed more conspicuous hyperintensity in high-grade gliomas and hypointensity in low-grade gliomas than DWI at b = 1000 s/mm(2). Sensitivity and specificity at b = 3000 s/mm(2) were higher than at b = 1000 s/mm(2) (83.7%, 84.6% vs 69.4%, 76.9%, respectively). Quantitative assessments showed that mean SI ratio of high-grade gliomas was significantly higher than that of low-grade gliomas at both b-values. The mean ADC value of high-grade gliomas was significantly lower than that of low-grade gliomas at both b-values. The difference between the SI ratios of high-grade and low-grade gliomas was significantly larger at b = 3000 s/mm(2) than at b = 1000 s/mm(2).


CONCLUSIONS
DWI at b = 3000 s/mm(2) is more useful than DWI at b = 1000 s/mm(2) in terms of discriminating high-grade and low-grade gliomas at 3T.
Department of Radiology, Seoul National University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
H S
HS
Seo
K-H
KH
Chang
D G
DG
Na
B J
BJ
Kwon
D H
DH
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity