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Influence of post-label delay time on the performance of 3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging in the characterization of parotid gland tumors

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the influence of post-label delay times (PLDs) on the performance of 3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) magnetic resonance imaging for characterizing parotid gland tumors and to explore the optimal PLDs for the differential diagnosis.

Materials and method

Fifty-eight consecutive patients with parotid gland tumors were enrolled, including 33 patients with pleomorphic adenomas (PAs), 16 patients with Warthin’s tumors (WTs), and 9 patients with malignant tumors (MTs). 3D pCASL was scanned for each patient five times, with PLDs of 1025 ms, 1525 ms, 2025 ms, 2525 ms, and 3025 ms. Tumor blood flow (TBF) was calculated, and compared among different PLDs and tumor groups. Performance of TBF at different PLDs was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Results

With an increasing PLD, TBF tended to gradually increase in PAs (p < 0.001), while TBF tended to slightly increase and then gradually decrease in WTs (p = 0.001), and PAs showed significantly lower TBF than WTs at all 5 PLDs (p < 0.05). PAs showed significantly lower TBF than MTs at 4 PLDs (p < 0.05), except at 3025 ms (p = 0.062). WTs showed higher TBF than MTs at all 5 PLDs; however, differences did not reach significance (p > 0.05). Setting a TBF of 64.350 mL/100g/min at a PLD of 1525 ms, or a TBF of 23.700 mL/100g/min at a PLD of 1025 ms as the cutoff values, optimal performance could be obtained for differentiating PAs from WTs (AUC = 0.905) or from MTs (AUC = 0.872).

Conclusions

Short PLDs (1025 ms or 1525 ms) are suggested to be used in 3D pCASL for characterizing parotid gland tumors in clinical practice.

Key Points

• With 5 different PLDs, 3D pCASL can reflect the variation of blood flow in parotid gland tumors.

• 3D pCASL is useful for characterizing PAs from WTs or MTs.

• Short PLDs (1025 ms or 1525 ms) are suggested to be used in 3D pCASL for characterizing parotid gland tumors in clinical practice.

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Abbreviations

3D pCASL:

Three-dimensional pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling

ADW:

Vendor-provided workstation

FOV:

Field of view

FSE:

Fast spin echo

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

MTs:

Malignant tumors

PAs:

Pleomorphic adenomas

PLD:

Post-label delay time

SIR:

Signal intensity ratio

TBF:

Tumor blood flow

TE:

Echo time

TR:

Repetition time

WTs:

Warthin’s tumors

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81771796 to FY Wu), Jiangsu Province’s Young Medical Talents Program (QNRC 2016560 to Xu XQ), and Outstanding Young and Middle-aged Talents Support Program of The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Jiangsu Province Hospital).

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Author notes

  1. Hao Hu and Lu Chen contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 300, Guangzhou Rd, Gulou District, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Hao Hu, Lu Chen, Wei Chen, Guo-Yi Su, Fei-Yun Wu & Xiao-Quan Xu

  2. Department of Stomatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Liu-Ning Zhu & Shou-Shan Bu

  3. GE Healthcare, MR Research China, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Weiqiang Dou

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  1. Hao Hu
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Correspondence to Fei-Yun Wu or Xiao-Quan Xu.

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The scientific guarantor of this publication is Xiao-Quan Xu.

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The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

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Hu, H., Chen, L., Zhu, LN. et al. Influence of post-label delay time on the performance of 3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging in the characterization of parotid gland tumors. Eur Radiol 32, 1087–1094 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-021-08220-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-021-08220-1

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