title: Histological grade of hepatocellular carcinoma predicted by quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study is to evaluate the application of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in determining the histological grade of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Totally, 27 HCC patients who received DWI examination before surgical resection were included in this study. Relationships of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and signal intensity (SI) with the histological grade of HCC were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  These 27 HCC patients could be classified into 6 well, 10 moderately, and 11 poorly differentiated HCCs. The overall ADC value for all HCC cases was (1.28 ± 0.19) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s. The ADC value for poorly differentiated HCCs was (1.16 ± 0.16) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s, significantly lower than the well [(1.43 ± 0.09) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s] and moderately [(1.34 ± 0.19) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s] differentiated HCCs. There was no significant difference in ADC between the well and moderately differentiated HCCs. The overall SI value for all the HCC cases was 75.66 ± 32.94. The mean SI value for the moderately differentiated HCC cases was 54.37 ± 28.37, significantly lower than the well (90.78 ± 27.49) and poorly (86.77 ± 31.51) differentiated HCCs. No significant difference in SI was observed between the well and poorly differentiated HCCs. Additionally, there was a significant negative correlation between the ADC value and the histological grade of HCC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ADC value based on DWI is useful in determining the histological grade of HCC, while the SI value provides limited contribution to HCC histological grade evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Suhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Yuhai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Shandong University Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Guangrui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shao
keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC); diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI); histological grading; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); signal intensity (SI)