ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the feasibility of diffusion-weighted imaging in evaluation of pancreatic lesions and in differentiation of benign from malignant lesions
Study Design: Descriptive study
Place and Duration of Study: Baskent University Adana Teaching and Research Center, Adana, Turkey, between September 2013 and May 2015
Methodology: Forty-three lesions [pancreas adenocarcinoma [n=25]], pancreatitis [n=10], benign lesion [n=8]] were utilized with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging with multiple b-values. Different ADC maps of diffusion weighted images by using b-values were acquired
Results: The median ADC at all b values for malignant lesions was significantly different from that for benign lesions [p<0.001]. When ADCs at all b values were compared between benign lesions/normal parenchyma and malignant lesions/normal parenchyma, there was a significant statistical difference in all b values between benign and malignant lesions except at b 50 and b 200 [p<0.05]. The lesion/normal parenchyma ADC ratio for b 600 value [AUC=0.804] was more effective than the lesion ADC for b 600 value [AUC=0.766] in differentiation of benign and malignant lesions. The specificity and sensitivity of the lesion/normal parenchyma ADC ratio were higher than those of ADC values of lesions. When the ADC was compared between benign lesions and pancreatitis, a significant difference was found at all b values [p<0.001]. There was not a statistically significant difference between the ADC for pancreatitis and that for malignant lesions at any b value combinations [p>0.05]
Conclusion: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images can be helpful in differentiation of pancreatic carcinoma and benign lesions. Lesion ADC / normal parenchyma ADC ratios are more important than lesion ADC values in assessment of pancreatic lesions
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We examined the relationship between portal venous velocity and hepatic-abdominal fat in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), using spectral Doppler ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, 35 patients with NAFLD and 29 normal healthy adults (control group) underwent portal Doppler US. The severity of hepatic steatosis in patients with NAFLD was assessed by MRI through chemical shift imaging, using a modification of the Dixon method. Abdominal (intra-abdominal and subcutaneous) fat was measured by MRI. RESULTS: The difference in portal venous velocity between the patients with NAFLD and the control group was significant (p 0.05). There were strong correlations between the hepatic fat fraction and subcutaneous adiposity (p < 0.0001), intraperitoneal fat accumulation (p = 0.017), and retroperitoneal fat accumulation (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that patients with NAFLD have lower portal venous velocities than normal healthy subjects.