title: Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR perfusion imaging of head and neck tumors at 3 Tesla.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MR perfusion imaging allows assessment of vascular density and integrity of tumors. The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic efficacy of time intensity curve analysis on DCE MRI for characterization of head and neck tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients underwent T1-weighted fast field echo DCE MRI with temporal resolution of 2.6 seconds. In total, 100 dynamic phases covering 20 slices were obtained in 4.5 minutes. Time to peak (TTP), relative maximum enhancement (RME) ratio, and relative washout ratio (RWO) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Malignant tumors had a significantly lower RME (p = .025) and prolonged TTP with lower RWO than benign lesions. Postradiation changes had a significantly longer TTP (p = .024) and lower RWO (p = .007) than did postradiation recurrent tumors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed RWO had highest accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] = 1.0).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DCE MR perfusion imaging provides pivotal information regarding microcirculation, potentially improves differentiation of malignant tumor from postradiation changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Matakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Upendra
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Parvathaneni
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maravilla
authors.forename: Todd L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Anzai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media