title: Whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging compared with FDG-PET/CT in staging of lymphoma patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has become increasingly valuable in lymph node imaging, yet the clinical utility of this technique in the staging of lymphoma has not been established.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare whole-body DWI with FDG-PET/CT in the staging of lymphoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one patients, eight with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and 23 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (18 aggressive and five indolent) underwent both whole-body DWI, whole-body MRI (T1W and T2W-STIR) and FDG-PET/CT. Lesions on whole-body DWI were only considered positive if they correlated with lesions on T1W and T2W-STIR images. The staging given by each technique was compared, according to the Ann Arbor staging system. Differences in staging were solved using biopsy results, and clinical and CT follow-ups as standard of reference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The staging was the same for DWI and FDG-PET/CT in 28 (90.3%) patients and different in three (9.7%). Of the 28 patients with the same staging, 11 had stage IV in both techniques and 17 had stages 0-III. No HL or aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients had different staging. Three indolent small lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia (SLL/CLL) lymphoma had higher staging with DWI when compared with FDG-PET/CT. One small subcutaneous breast lymphoma was not seen but all other extranodal sites were detected by both techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whole-body DWI is a promising technique for staging of both (aggressive and indolent) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and HL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. goran.abdul-qadhr@radiol.uu.se
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abdulqadhr
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Molin
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aström
authors.forename: Madis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suurküla
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hagberg
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahlström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015588:Observer Variation; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18