title: Value of diffusion-weighted imaging in distinguishing pancreatic carcinoma from mass-forming chronic pancreatitis: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several previous studies have shown that diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can provide additional information for focal pancreatic lesions by demonstrating more restricted diffusion in solid malignant tumors than in chronic pancreatitis, which can be indicated by a decreased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). However, these studies have a modest sample size and convey inconclusive results. The aim of this study was to determine, in a meta-analysis, the diagnostic performance of quantitative diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in distinguishing pancreatic carcinoma from mass-forming chronic pancreatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  We determined the sensitivities and specificities across studies. A summary receiver operator characteristic (sROC) curve was constructed to calculate the area under the curve (AUC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pooled sensitivity of DWI was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80-0.91) and the pooled specificity was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72-0.89). The AUC of the sROC was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.88-0.93).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DWI may be a potentially technically feasible tool for differentiating pancreatic carcinoma from mass-forming chronic pancreatitis. However, large-scale randomized control trials are necessary to assess its clinical value.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610081, China.
authors.forename: Xiangke
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Sushant Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Anup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhetuwal
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Yingquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Lichuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Wenxuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, and Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637000, China.
authors.forename: Hanfeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Sixth People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China. Email: niu19850519@163.com.
authors.forename: Hanyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D050500:Pancreatitis, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis*