The comparison of the efficacy of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) sequences with 3 different T2-weighted sequences in the detection of focal liver lesions

Purpose : In this study we aimed to compare and evaluate the efficacies of the low and high b value diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) sequences with three different T2-weighted (T2W) sequences. Materials and Methods : 255 liver lesions of 147 patients who had undergone MR examinations of the upper abdomen were evaluated. A maximum number of 4 lesions was taken for consideration in patients with multiple lesions. Low and high b valued DWI and 3 different T2W sequences (ssFSE, FIESTA, and PROPELLER FSE) were utilized. The evaluations were done by 3 different radiologists, by utilizing the double blind principle. Results : The lesion detection performances of the b 0 DWI, b 600 DWI, FIESTA T2W, ssFSE T2W, and PROPELLER FSE T2W sequences, were 95.7 %, 66.3 %, 94.4 %, 92.8 %, and 93.8 %, in sequence order. The high b value DWI sequence was able to detect malignant lesions with a higher accuracy rate than the T2W sequences. There was a moderate to high rate of agreement among the interpreters, and the lesion-detection rates of the interpreters were in line with their levels of expertise. Conclusion : Even though the higher lesion detection rates of the DWI sequences were not found to be statistically significant, it was concluded that making the evaluations with the addition of DWI to the imaging protocol would certainly decrease the lesion-missing rate, and it would be wise to utilize the DWI technique in routine liver MR imaging. (Acta gastroenterol. belg., 2019, 82, 267-272).