title: Benign neck masses showing restricted diffusion: Is there a histological basis for discordant behavior?
abstract: Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) evolved as a complementary tool to morphologic imaging by offering additional functional information about lesions. Although the technique utilizes movement of water molecules to characterize biological tissues in terms of their cellularity, there are other factors related to the histological constitution of lesions which can have a significant bearing on DWI. Benign lesions with atypical histology including presence of lymphoid stroma, inherently increased cellularity or abundant extracellular collagen can impede movement of water molecules similar to malignant tissues and thereby, show restricted diffusion. Knowledge of these atypical entities while interpreting DWI in clinical practice can avoid potential misdiagnosis. This review aims to present an imaging spectrum of such benign neck masses which, owing to their distinct histology, can show discordant behavior on DWI.
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Abanti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Ashu S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bhalla
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Raju
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Atin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Meher
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Shivanand
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gamanagatti
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thakar
authors.affiliation: Abanti Das, Ashu S Bhalla, Raju Sharma, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
keywords: Benign neck masses; Diffusion weighted imaging; Restricted diffusion