title: Abdominal applications of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging: Where do we stand.
abstract: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is one of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences providing qualitative as well as quantitative information at a cellular level. It has been widely used for various applications in the central nervous system. Over the past decade, various extracranial applications of DWI have been increasingly explored, as it may detect changes even before signal alterations or morphological abnormalities become apparent on other pulse sequences. Initial results from abdominal MRI applications are promising, particularly in oncological settings and for the detection of abscesses. The purpose of this article is to describe the clinically relevant basic concepts of DWI, techniques to perform abdominal DWI, its analysis and applications in abdominal visceral MR imaging, in addition to a brief overview of whole body DWI MRI.
authors.affiliation: Ajaykumar C Morani, Khaled M Elsayes, Janio Szklaruk, Department of Radiology, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
authors.forename: Ajaykumar C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Morani
authors.forename: Khaled M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Elsayes
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Weadock
authors.forename: Janio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szklaruk
authors.forename: Jonathan Russell
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Dillman
authors.forename: Asra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Chenevert
authors.forename: Hero K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Hussain
keywords: Diffusion; Diffusion-weighted imaging; Imaging