[Application of diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging to differential diagnosis of breast diseases]

Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) have been applied to diagnose cerebral diseases, but its application to diagnose breast diseases is in exploring stage. This study was to investigate the value of DWI in differentiating benign and malignant breast lesions.

DWI records of 52 patients, with 27 malignant lesions and 33 benign lesions verified by histopathology, and 10 healthy women were analyzed. DWI was performed with single shot echo planar imaging technique. The apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) of malignant lesions, benign lesions, and normal breast gland were compared. The diagnosis threshold between malignant and benign lesions was decided according to receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).

The ADC values were (1.98+/-0.31) x 10(-3) mm(2)/s for normal breast gland,(1.59+/-0.26) x 10(-3) mm(2)/s for benign lesions, and (0.87+/-0.23) x 10(-3) mm(2)/s for malignant lesions; the 95% reference ranges were (1.38-2.58) x 10(-3) mm(2)/s for normal breast gland, (1.07-2.11) x 10(-3) mm(2)/s for benign lesions, and (0.42-1.32)x10(-3) mm(2)/s for malignant lesions. There were significant differences among these ADC values (P<0.05). The threshold between malignant and benign lesions was 1.22 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s according to ROC. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the threshold were 88.9%, 87.9%, and 88.3%, respectively.

ADC value may help to differentiate benign and malignant breast lesions. DWI may be applied to detect breast cancer.