title: Diffusion weighted imaging of nasopharyngeal adenoid hypertrophy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) could be helpful for the differentiation of malignant and benign entities. Nasopharyngeal adenoid hypertrophy (NAH) is a typical benign lesion. DWI appearances of this lesion have not been reported previously.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify and to analyse DWI findings of NAH.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 688 MR investigations of the head performed at our institution. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained at a 1.5 T MRI device. Beside normal standard sequences DWI was obtained using a multislice single-shot echo-planar sequence. DWI was performed with b values of 0, 500, and 1000 s/mm(2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean whole lesion ADC value was 0.83 ± 0.12 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1) (median, 0.82 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1); range, 0.58-1.45 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1)). The mean ADC value of solid areas of NAH was 0.59 ± 0.11 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1) (range, 0.36-0.84 × 10(-3) mm(2) s(-1)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although NAH is a benign lesion, it shows low ADC values both in childhood and in adults. This finding should be kept in mind to avoid possible misinterpretations as a malignant lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany alex.surow@medizin.uni-halle.de.
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Surov
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany alex.surow@medizin.uni-halle.de.
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ryl
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bartel-Friedrich
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wienke
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kösling
mesh_terms: D000234:Adenoids / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000473:pathology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009302:Nasopharyngeal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: DWI; MRI; Nasopharynx; adenoid hypertrophy