The value of DWI in the differential diagnosis between chordoma and chondrosarcoma in skull base / 实用放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the application value of diffusion-weighted imaging(DWI) in distinction of skull base chordoma from chondrosarcoma.Methods The clinical data and imaging findings of basicranial tumor confirmed by pathology,including 14 patients with classic chordoma,9 with poorly differentiated chordoma and 18 with chondrosarcoma were analyzed retrospectively.The lesion location,enhancement patterns,signal intensity on T2 WI relative to gray matter,and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were reviewed.The enhancement pattern was scored as 0 (little or non-enhancement),1 (heterogeneous enhancement),or 2 (homogeneous enhancement in ≥90％area).The data were analysed by Kruskal-Wallis test.Results There were significant differences in the mean,minimum and maximum ADC values,the intensity on T2 WI and the enhancement pattern among the three tumor types (P ＜0.05).However,the differences in the score of enhancement pattern and lesion location were not found (P＞0.05).Conclusion DWI may be helpful for the diagnosis of skull base chordoma from chondrosarcoma,and the accuracy rate will be improved when combined with T2WI intensity.