title: Diagnosis of focal liver lesions suspected of metastases by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI): systematic comparison favors free-breathing technique.
abstract: Two echo planar imaging diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) techniques [one breath hold (DWI(bh)), repetition time/echo time (TR/TE) 2100/62 ms; one at free breathing (DWI(fb)), TR/TE 2000/65 ms] were compared regarding diagnosis of focal liver lesions (FLLs) in 45 patients with suspected liver metastasis without prior treatment. Apparent diffusion coefficient values of 46 benign and 67 malignant FLLs were analyzed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. DWI(fb) detected more malignant lesions than DWI(bh) (P=.002). Lesion size ≤10 mm was associated with FLLs missed by DWI(bh) (P=.018). Area under the ROC curve of DWI(fb) (0.801) was higher compared to that of DWI(bh) (0.669, P<.0113), demonstrating the diagnostic superiority of DWI(fb).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University hospital Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07740 Jena. pascal.baltzer@med.uni-jena-de
authors.forename: Pascal A T
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Baltzer
authors.forename: Juliane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schelhorn
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benndorf
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dietzel
authors.forename: Werner A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Kaiser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D062485:Breath Holding; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055425:Respiratory-Gated Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity