The effect of age on apparent diffusion coefficient values in normal spleen: a preliminary study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate and characterize the effect of age on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in normal spleen.


METHODS
A population of 127 patients (age range 10-79 years, mean age 44.4 years) without magnetic resonance imaging findings in abdominal scans, was selected over a 5-year period. The ADC values of the spleen were analysed in all ages, and dependency of ADC values on age was characterized using Spearman's correlation coefficient test.


RESULTS
A reduction of ADC values with ageing was found in the spleen (r = -0.702, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The ADC values of the spleen decline with age. This should be taken into consideration when disease is diagnosed.
Department of Radiology, East Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
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G
Li
Department of Radiology, East Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
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P
Xu
Department of Radiology, East Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
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X
Pan
Department of Radiology, East Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
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H
Qin
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: c.y.m@126.com.
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Y
Chen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013154:Spleen / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric