Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance for pulmonary nodules: 1.5 vs. 3 Tesla

The usefulness of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance for assessing malignant pulmonary nodules was examined in 58 patients with 76 (58 malignant, 18 benign) pulmonary nodules (1.0-5.6 cm) who underwent 1.5-T and 3-Tesla imaging and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography prior to surgery. The sensitivities and specificities of these techniques for discriminating benign and malignant nodules were compared. The apparent diffusion coefficients of the pulmonary nodules on 1.5-T and 3-T imaging correlated significantly. The sensitivities and specificities for discriminating benign and malignant lesions were similar among the 3 imaging techniques: 1.5-T imaging, 0.91 and 0.90; 3-T imaging, 0.88 and 0.94; positron-emission tomography, 0.94 and 0.94. The apparent diffusion coefficient on 1.5-T imaging showed a significant reverse correlation with positron-emission tomography, and the correlation between 3-T imaging and positron-emission tomography was marginally significant. Both 1.5-T and 3-T diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging modalities are equally useful for assessing malignant pulmonary nodules.