Whole-body diffusion weighted imaging manifestation of oral squamous cell carcinoma with metastatic lymph nodes / 中华口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the manifestation of oral squamous cell carcinoma with metastatic lymph nodes in whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) and its clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-one cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma with metastatic lymph nodes were examined by WB-DWI, of which 19 were scanned with routine MRI, 9 cases examined by positron-emission tomography (PET). All cases were confirmed by pathology. MRI scan covered whole body and built whole body diffusion image after reconstruction with GE HDe 1.5T MRI scanner.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 139 metastatic lymph nodes, 11 normal lymph nodes, and 21 inflammatory lymph nodes exhibited by WB-DWI in 21 cases. Metastatic lymph nodes showed higher signal and lower value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). The mean ADC value of metastatic lymph nodes (0.78 +/- 0.07) was significantly lower than that of inflammatory (1.18 +/- 0.15) and normal nodes (1.78 +/- 0.16), and normal nodes showed even higher levels of ADC value.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>STIR-EPI-DWI is a new promising technique for differentiating normal, inflammatory, and metastatic lymph nodes and can provide more useful information on lymph node metastasis.</p>