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Value of diffusion-weighted imaging to detect small malignant pelvic lymph nodes at 3 T

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Abstract

Objective

To investigate the usefulness of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to discriminate between metastatic and non-metastatic small lymph nodes in pelvic carcinoma.

Materials and Methods

A total of 259 patients (180 normal, 79 metastatic) prospectively underwent DWI at 3 T. We measured the short-axis diameter and the mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value. Lymph nodes with a short-axis diameter larger than 8 mm were recorded as being suspected metastatic lymph nodes. Imaging data were correlated station by station with histopathological results.

Results

A total of 140 metastatic nodes were accurately matched with histology. On T2w, the short-axis diameter for non-metastatic and metastatic lymph nodes was 6.4 mm ± 2.5 mm and 8.3 mm ± 4.5 mm, respectively. Almost all metastatic or non-metastatic nodes had similar high signal intensity on DWI (except in 5 cases) with a homogeneous pattern. The mean ADC values (10−3 mm3/s ± standard deviation) of involved lymph nodes, control iliac nodes and control inguinal nodes were 924 ± 217, 968 ± 182 and 1,036 ± 181, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in the ADC of metastatic and non-metastatic nodes.

Conclusion

Isolated measurement of mean ADC values in a suspected station does not contribute to the diagnosis of metastatic nodes, in patients with small ambiguous nodes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology B, Universitary Hospital of Strasbourg, 1, place de l’hôpital, BP 426, 67091, Strasbourg cedex, France

    Catherine Roy, Guillaume Bierry, Andrea Matau, Gauthier Bazille & Rémy Pasquali

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  1. Catherine Roy
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  2. Guillaume Bierry
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  3. Andrea Matau
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  4. Gauthier Bazille
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  5. Rémy Pasquali
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Correspondence to Catherine Roy.

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Roy, C., Bierry, G., Matau, A. et al. Value of diffusion-weighted imaging to detect small malignant pelvic lymph nodes at 3 T. Eur Radiol 20, 1803–1811 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-010-1736-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-010-1736-4

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