Role of Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Hepatic Focal Lesions

Document Type : Original Article

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Background: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a novel imaging technique with a growing application in oncoimaging. This modality evaluates the diffusion of water molecules in various tissues, which is restricted in hypercellular regions such as malignant tissue. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is a method that can quantify the degree of restriction in tissues and can have diagnostic roles in the characterization of hepatic lesions. Aim of the Work: To study the role of diffusion-weighted MRI sequence with quantitative ADC measurements as a useful tool in the differentiation between benign and malignant liver lesions. Patients and Methods: The current study was carried out on thirty adult patients, 24 males (80%), and 6 females (20%). They were presented to Qena University Hospitals at the Radiodiagnosis Department. Results: Both, qualitative evaluation of high b-value DW-MR images and quantitative evaluation of ADC maps are employed for lesion characterization. The ADC values of benign lesions are significantly higher than those of malignant lesions, with variable degrees of overlap between the pathological entities. Conclusion: DW MR imaging has the potential to be a reasonable alternative technique to contrast-enhanced imaging.

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