The Importance of Diffusion Weighted Imaging in Breast MRI

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of diffusion weighted imaging in Diffusion weighted imaging in distinguishing between in benign and malignant breast lesion Methods: There were 37 female patients with 47 lesions. Sixty seven female subjectd (40 mean age ) ,age ranges 17-69 , with histopathologically proven breast lesions underwent DWI of breasts with a single shot echo planar imaging (EPI )sequence .the computed mean apparent diffusion cofficients (ADCs) of the breasts lesion and cell density were then correlated. Results: The ADC varied substantially between benign breast lesions ((1.52 0.26) 10 -3 mm2 / second). And malignant breast lesions ((0.94 0.21) 10 -3 mm2 / second) .The AUC with ROC analysis was 0.896 and the threshold for ADC was 1.17 10-3 mm2 /second with a sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 85%, respectively. The mean ADC of malignant breast lesions was statistically lower for benign lesions (P value less than 0.01) Conclusions: The ADC would be a effective parameter in distinguishing between malignant and benign breast lesions.