[Value of diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the detection of middle ear cholesteatoma].
OBJECTIVE
This study, was conducted to determine the clinical value of diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) in detecting the presence of cholesteatoma.


METHODS
Fifty-six patients (21 female and 35 male patients; mean age, 43 years) who underwent middle ear surgery were referred to the radiology department for a preoperative DWI study.


RESULTS
DWI depicted 41 out of 48 cholesteatomas involving the middle ear cavity (sensitivity, 85.4%). Seven patients with middle ear cholesteatoma who showed negative DWI findings (false-negative cases) had limited keratin accumulation due to simple atelectasis or meticulous evacuation of keratin debris before the MRI study. No falsepositive cases were found in this study (specificity, 100%). The positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100% and 53.3%, respectively. The minimum size of middle ear cholesteatoma detected by the current MRI system was 5mm.


CONCLUSIONS
Diffusion-weighted MR imaging was useful for the detection of middle ear cholesteatoma.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Miyazaki University School of Medicine, Miyazaki.
Noriaki
N
Nagai
Tetsuya
T
Tono
Keiji
K
Matsuda
Katsuhiro
K
Toyama
Hirokazu
H
Kawano
Takao
T
Kodama
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018424:Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity