title: Staging of Primary Abdominal Lymphomas: Comparison of Whole-Body MRI with Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and (18)F-FDG-PET/CT.
abstract: Background. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of whole-body MRI with diffusion-weighted sequences (WB-DW-MRI) with that of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in the staging of patients with primary gastrointestinal lymphoma. Methods. This retrospective study involved 17 untreated patients with primary abdominal gastrointestinal lymphoma. All patients underwent (18)F-FDG-PET/CT and WB-DW-MRI. Histopathology findings or at least 6 months of clinical and radiological follow-up was the gold standard. The Musshoff-modified Ann Arbor system was used for staging, and diagnostic accuracy was evaluated on a per-node basis. Results. WB-DW-MRI exhibited 100% sensitivity, 96.3% specificity, and 96.1% and 100% positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and PPV and NPV of PET/CT were 95.9%, 100%, and 100% and 96.4%, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the two techniques (p = 0.05). The weighted kappa agreement statistics with a 95% confidence interval were 0.97 (0.95-0.99) between the two MRI readers and 0.87 (0.82-0.92) between the two methods. Conclusions. WB-DW-MRI appears to have a comparable diagnostic value to (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in staging patients with gastrointestinal lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Corso Mazzini 18, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stecco
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Corso Mazzini 18, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buemi
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Corso Mazzini 18, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quagliozzi
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Corso Mazzini 18, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.affiliation: Oncohaematology Department, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Corso Mario Abbiate 21, 13100 Vercelli, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santagostino
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine Department, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Corso Mazzini 18, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Gian Mauro
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Sacchetti
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, "Maggiore della Carità" University Hospital, University of Eastern Piedmont, Corso Mazzini 18, 28100 Novara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carriero