The importance of diffusion weighted imaging in breast MRI

Aim: the aim of this study was to evaluate the value of diffusion weighted imaging in Diffusion weighted imaging in distinguishing between in benign and malignant breast lesion Materials and methods: There were 37 female patients with 47lesions. Sixty seven female subjects (40mean age ) ,age ranges 17-69 , with histopathologically proven breast lesions underwent DWI of breasts with a single shot echo planar imaging (EPI )sequence .the computed mean apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of the breasts lesion and cell density were then correlated . Results: The ADC varied substantially between benign breast lesions ((1.52±0.26) ×10 -3 mm2/second). And malignant breast lesions ((0.94±0.21)× 10 -3 mm2/second) .The AUC with ROC analysis was 0.896 and the threshold for ADC was 1.17 ×10-3 mm2/s with a sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 85%, respectively. The mean ADC of malignant breast lesions was statistically lower for benign lesions (p<0.01) Conclusion: The ADC would be a effective parameter in distinguishing between malignant and benign breast lesions

Keywords:

Apparent diffusion coefficient , breast cancer , breast imaging , diffusion-weighted imaging