Intravoxel incoherent motion: application in differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma and focal nodular hyperplasia

• Published in: Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology
• Main Authors: Ma Luo, Ling Zhang, Xin-Hua Jiang, Wei-Dong Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Turkish Society of Radiology 2017-07-01
• Online Access: http://www.dirjournal.org/archives/archive-detail/article-preview/ntravoxel-incoherent-motion-application-in-differe/55270

PURPOSE:We aimed to explore whether intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM)-related parameters of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) demonstrate differences that could be used to differentiate and improve diagnostic efficiency.METHODS:A total of 27 patients, including 22 with HCC and 5 with FNH, underwent liver 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging for routine sequences. They were concurrently examined by IVIM diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) scanning with 11 different b values (0–800 s/mm2). IVIM-derived parameters, such as pure diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), perfusion fraction (f), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCtotal), were quantified automatically by post-processing software and compared between HCC and FNH groups. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was then created to predict their diagnostic value.RESULTS:D* was weak in terms of reproducibility among the other parameters. ADCtotal, D, and D* were significantly lower in the HCC group than in the FNH group, while f did not show a significant difference. ADCtotal and D had the largest area under the curve values (AUC; 0.915 and 0.897, respectively) and similarly high efficacy to differentiate the two conditions.CONCLUSION:IVIM provides a new modality to differentiate the HCC and FNH. ADCtotal and D demonstrated outstanding and comparable diagnosing utility.