title: Diffusion-weighted imaging of hepatocellular carcinomas: a retrospective analysis of correlation between apparent diffusion coefficients and histological grade.
abstract: To define correlations between the pathological grades of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) derived using breath-holding diffusion-weighted imaging (BH-DWI).
  
  
  
  We retrospectively evaluated 94 patients (105 lesions) with pathologically proved HCC who underwent hepatic DWI on a 3.0-T MR platform. HCCs were divided into five groups: well-differentiated (n = 10), well-to-moderately differentiated (n = 11), moderately differentiated (n = 51), moderately to poorly differentiated (n = 20), and poorly differentiated (n = 13) groups. The ADCs of carcinomas across different histological grades were compared by one-way analysis of variance. Spearman's rank correlation test was used to analyze correlations between the degree of histopathological differentiation and ADC. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni correction.
  
  
  
  The BH technique yielded ADC values that differed significantly by the extent of differentiation (F = 8.392, p < 0.001). A significant negative correlation was found between the extent of differentiation and ADCs (r = -0.462, p < 0.001). The mean ADC values of poorly differentiated HCCs were significantly lower than the well-, well-to-moderately, moderately, and moderately to poorly differentiated HCCs (p values were <0.001, <0.001, 0.003, and 0.031, respectively).
  
  
  
  ADC values obtained with BH-DWI may be of importance to non-invasively predict HCC tumor differentiation, and the extent of histological HCC differentiation was inversely correlated with ADC values.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Box 100853, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Box 100853, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haiyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Box 100853, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Box 100853, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Fuxing Road 28, Box 100853, Beijing, China. 13701100368@163.com.
authors.forename: Huiyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Apparent diffusion coefficient; Diffusion-weighted imaging; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Histological grading; Liver