Diffusional kurtosis imaging of parotid glands in Sjögren's syndrome: Initial findings.
To explore the role of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) of parotid glands in diagnosing Sjögren's syndrome (SS).



A total of 40 patients with SS and 40 healthy volunteers underwent 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including DKI, which generated the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), corrected diffusion (D), and diffusional kurtosis (K) values. The MR nodular grade was determined on the basis of MR morphological findings.



The parotid ADC, D, and K values in patients with SS were significantly higher than those of healthy volunteers (P = 0.011, < 0.001, 0.022, respectively). The parotid ADC and D values in patients with SS of MR nodular grade 0 were significantly higher than those of healthy volunteers (all P < 0.001). The parotid D value showed an accuracy of 75.0% and 87.9% in diagnosing patients with SS and MR nodular grade 0, respectively. The parotid ADC and D values correlated negatively, while the K values correlated positively with the MR nodular grade significantly in patients with SS (r = -0.741, -0.605, 0.424, all P < 0.001). All parotid DKI parameters differed significantly among patients with SS at different MR nodular grades (all P < 0.001).



Parotid DKI parameters hold great potential in diagnosing SS, especially in early-stage SS without MR morphological changes.



2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1409-1417.
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Chen
C
Chu
Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Huayong
H
Zhang
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Nan
N
Zhou
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Xin
X
Dou
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Ming
M
Li
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Song
S
Liu
Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Yun
Y
Zhu
Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Chun
C
Wang
Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, P.R. China.
Weibo
W
Chen
Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
Queenie
Q
Chan
Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Lingyun
L
Sun
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Jian
J
He
Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, P.R. China.
Zhengyang
Z
Zhou
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
Sjögren's syndrome; diagnosis; diffusion kurtosis imaging; magnetic resonance; parotid gland