Is Diffusion-Weighted MRI Useful for Differentiation of Small Non-Necrotic Cervical Lymph Nodes in Patients with Head and Neck Malignancies?.
10.3348/kjr.2014.15.6.810
- Author:
Hyun Kyung LIM
1
;
Jeong Hyun LEE
;
Hye Jin BAEK
;
Namkug KIM
;
Hayoung LEE
;
Jee Won PARK
;
Sang Yoon KIM
;
Kyung Ja CHO
;
Jung Hwan BAEK
Author Information
1. Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 138-736, Korea. jeonghlee@amc.seoul.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Diffusion weighted imaging;
Metastasis;
Head and neck cancer;
Lymph node
- MeSH:
Adult;
Aged;
Aged, 80 and over;
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
Female;
Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography;
Humans;
Lymph Nodes/pathology/*radiography;
Lymphatic Metastasis;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Necrosis;
Patients;
Sensitivity and Specificity
- From:Korean Journal of Radiology
2014;15(6):810-816
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of measuring the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to distinguish benign from small, non-necrotic metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six consecutive patients with head and neck cancer underwent diffusion-weighted imaging (b value, 0 and 800 s/mm2) preoperatively between January 2009 and December 2010. Two readers independently measured the ADC values of each cervical lymph node with a minimum-axial diameter of > or = 5 mm but < 11 mm using manually drawn regions of interest. Necrotic lymph nodes were excluded. Mean ADC values were compared between benign and metastatic lymph nodes after correlating the pathology. RESULTS: A total of 116 lymph nodes (91 benign and 25 metastatic) from 25 patients were included. Metastatic lymph nodes (mean +/- standard deviation [SD], 7.4 +/- 1.6 mm) were larger than benign lymph nodes (mean +/- SD, 6.6 +/- 1.4 mm) (p = 0.018). Mean ADC values for reader 1 were 1.17 +/- 0.31 x 10-3 mm2/s for benign and 1.25 +/- 0.76 x 10-3 mm2/s for metastatic lymph nodes. Mean ADC values for reader 2 were 1.21 +/- 0.46 x 10-3 mm2/s for benign and 1.14 +/- 0.34 x 10-3 mm2/s for metastatic lymph nodes. Mean ADC values between benign and metastatic lymph nodes were not significantly different (p = 0.594 for reader 1, 0.463 for reader 2). CONCLUSION: Measuring mean ADC does not allow differentiating benign from metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer and non-necrotic, small lymph nodes.
