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European Radiology
Published in: European Radiology 11/2012

Open Access 01-11-2012 | Hepatobiliary-Pancreas

Characterization of focal liver lesions using quantitative techniques: comparison of apparent diffusion coefficient values and T2 relaxation times

Authors: Andrzej Cieszanowski, Agnieszka Anysz-Grodzicka, Wojciech Szeszkowski, Bartosz Kaczynski, Edyta Maj, Barbara Gornicka, Mariusz Grodzicki, Ireneusz P. Grudzinski, Anna Stadnik, Marek Krawczyk, Olgierd Rowinski

Published in: European Radiology | Issue 11/2012

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Abstract

Objectives

To compare the efficacy of two quantitative methods for discrimination between benign and malignant focal liver lesions (FLLs): apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and T2 relaxation times.

Methods

Seventy-three patients with 215 confirmed FLLs (115 benign, 100 malignant) underwent 1.5-T MRI with respiratory-triggered single-shot SE DWI (b = 50, 400, 800) and dual-echo T2TSE (TR = 3,000 ms; TE1 = 84 ms; TE2 = 228 ms). ADC values and T2 relaxation times of FLLs were calculated. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of both techniques in diagnosing malignancy were assessed.

Results

The mean ADC value of malignant tumours (1.07 × 10−3 mm2/s) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of benign lesions (1.86 × 10−3 mm2/s ); however, with the use of the optimal cut-off value of 1.25 × 10−3 mm2/s, 20 false positive (FP) and 20 false negative (FN) diagnoses of malignancy were noted, generating 79 % sensitivity, 82.6 % specificity and 80.9 % accuracy. The mean T2 relaxation time of malignant tumours (64.4 ms) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of benign lesions (476.1 ms). At the threshold of 107 ms 22 FP and 1 FN diagnoses were noted; the sensitivity was 99 %, specificity 80.9 % and accuracy 89.3 %.

Conclusions

Quantitative analysis of T2 relaxation times yielded significantly higher sensitivity and accuracy in diagnosing malignant liver tumour than ADC values.

Key Points

• Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly used for liver lesions.
• But ADC values demonstrated only moderate accuracy for differentiation of liver lesions.
• T2 relaxation times yielded higher accuracy in diagnosing malignant liver tumours.
• Both ADC and T2 values overlapped between focal nodular hyperplasia and malignant lesions.
• Nevertheless T2 liver mapping could be valuable for evaluating focal liver lesions.
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Metadata
Title
Characterization of focal liver lesions using quantitative techniques: comparison of apparent diffusion coefficient values and T2 relaxation times
Authors
Andrzej Cieszanowski
Agnieszka Anysz-Grodzicka
Wojciech Szeszkowski
Bartosz Kaczynski
Edyta Maj
Barbara Gornicka
Mariusz Grodzicki
Ireneusz P. Grudzinski
Anna Stadnik
Marek Krawczyk
Olgierd Rowinski
Publication date
01-11-2012
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
European Radiology / Issue 11/2012
Print ISSN: 0938-7994
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1084
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-012-2519-x

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