The effect of age on apparent diffusion coefficient values in normal spleen: A preliminary study

Variabilities in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements of the spleen and the paraspinal muscle: A single center large cohort study

Purpose

Evaluation of the variabilities in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements of the spleen (ADC_spleen) and the paraspinal muscles (ADC_muscle) to identify the reference organ for normalizing the ADC from the abdominal diffusion weighted imaging (DWI).

Methods

Two MRI scanners, with 314 abdominal exams on the GE and 929 on the Siemens system, were used for MRI examinations including DWI (b-values, 50 and 800 s/mm²). For a subset of 73 exams on the Siemens system a second exam was conducted. Four regions of interest (ROIs) in each exam were placed to measure the ADC_spleen and the bilateral ADC_muscle. ADC variability between patients (on each scanner separately), ADC variability due to ROI placement between the two ROIs in each organ, and variability in the subset between the first and second exams were assessed.

Results

The ADC_spleen was more scattered and variable than the ADC_muscle in the comparability (n = 929 and 314 for two MRI scanners, respectively) and repeatability (n = 73) datasets. The Bland-Altmann bias and limits of agreement (LoAs) for the ADC_spleen (ICC, 0.47; CV, 0.070) and ADC_muscle (ICC, 0.67; CV, 0.023) in the repeatability datasets (n = 73) were -0.1 (-25.7%-25.6%) and -0.3 (-8.8%-8.1%), respectively. For the Siemens system, the Bland-Altmann bias and LoAs for the ADC_spleen (ICC, 0.72; CV, 0.061) and ADC_muscle (ICC, 0.53; CV, 0.030) in the comparability datasets (n = 929) were 2.1 (-20.0%-24.2%) and 0.7 (-10.0%-11.4%), respectively. Similar findings have been found in the GE system (n = 314). The CVs for the ADC_muscle measurements were lower than those of the ADC_spleen both in the repeatability and the comparability analyses (all p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Paraspinal muscles demonstrate better reference characteristics than the spleen in estimating ADC variability of abdominal DWI.

Diffusion-weighted Imaging of the Abdomen during a Single Breath-hold Using Simultaneous-multislice Echo-planar Imaging

PURPOSE

This multi-scanner study aimed to investigate the validity of single breath-hold (BH) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) using simultaneous-multislice (SMS) echo-planar imaging in multiple abdominal organs to enable faster acquisition and reliable quantification of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).

METHODS

SNR, geometric distortion (GD), and ADC in a phantom; the ADC in the liver, renal cortex, paraspinal muscle, spleen, and pancreas; and the signal intensity ratio of the portal vein-to-muscle (SIR_PV-M) in healthy volunteers were compared between BH- and respiratory-triggered (RT) DWI with b-values of 0 and 800 s/mm² in two different MRI scanners.

RESULTS

The phantom study showed that the SNR of BH-DWI was significantly lower than that of the RT-DWI (P < 0.05 for both scanners), whereas the GD and ADC of BH-DWI did not differ significantly from those of the RT-DWI (P = 0.09-0.60). In the volunteer study, the scan times were 23 seconds for BH-DWI and 184±33 seconds for RT-DWI, respectively. The ADC of the liver in BH-DWI was significantly lower than that in RT-DWI (P < 0.05 for both scanners), whereas there were no significant differences in the ADCs of the renal cortex, paraspinal muscle, spleen, or pancreas between BH-DWI and RT-DWI (P = 0.07-0.86). The SIR_PV-M in BH-DWI was significantly smaller than in RT-DWI (P < 0.05 for both scanners).

CONCLUSION

The proposed method enables the acquisition of abdominal diffusion-weighted images in a single BH.

Adrenocortical neoplasms in adulthood and childhood: distinct presentation. Review of the clinical, pathological and imaging characteristics

Adrenocortical tumors (ACT) in adulthood and childhood vary in clinical, histopathological, molecular, prognostic, and imaging aspects. ACT are relatively common in adults, as adenomas are often found incidentally on imaging. ACT are rare in children, though they have a significantly higher prevalence in the south and southeast regions of Brazil. In clinical manifestation, adults with ACT present more frequently with glucocorticoid overproduction (Cushing syndrome), mineralocorticoid syndromes (Conn syndrome), or the excess of androgens in women. Subclinical tumors are frequently diagnosed late, associated with compression symptoms of abdominal mass. In children, the usual presentation is the virilizing syndrome or virilizing association and hypercortisolism. Histopathological grading and ACT classification in malignant and benign lesions are different for adults and children. In adults, the described criteria are the Hough, Weiss, modified Weiss, and Van Slooten. These scores are not valid for children; there are other criteria, such as proposed by Wieneke and colleagues. In molecular terms, there is also a difference related to genetic alterations found in these two populations. This review discusses the imaging findings of ACT, aiming to characterize the present differences between ACT found in adults and children. We listed several differences between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography-computed (PET-CT) and also performed a literature review, which focuses on studied age groups of published articles in the last 10 years regarding cortical neoplasm and imaging techniques. Published studies on ACT imaging in children are rare. It is important to stress that the majority of publications related to the differentiation of malignant and benign tumors are based almost exclusively on studies in adults. A minority of articles, however, studied adults and children together, which may not be appropriate.

Apparent Diffusion Coefficient of Normal Abdominal Organs and Bone Marrow From Whole-Body DWI at 1.5 T: The Effect of Sex and Age

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this study were to define the range of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) from whole-body DWI in normal abdominal organs and bone marrow, to identify ADC differences between sexes and changes occurring with age, and to evaluate the effect of the fat fraction (FF) on the ADC of normal liver parenchyma and bone marrow.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty-one healthy volunteers (mean age = 38 years; age range = 23-68 years) underwent whole-body DWI using single-shot echo-planar imaging (b = 0, 150, 400, 750, and 1000 s/mm(2)). A two-point Dixon technique was used to evaluate the FF. Perfusion-sensitive ADCs, which we refer to as "ADCALL," and perfusion-insensitive ADCs, which we refer to as "ADCHIGH," of the liver and renal parenchyma, spleen, pancreatic tail, and red and yellow bone marrow were calculated. The relationships between ADC and sex, age, and FF were examined.

RESULTS

ADCALL and ADCHIGH were significantly higher in female volunteers for the pancreatic tail (p = 0.046 and 0.008, respectively), red bone marrow (p = 0.029 and 0.001), and yellow bone marrow (p < 0.001 for both) but with considerable overlap. There were significant negative correlations between ADCALL and ADCHIGH and age in the liver parenchyma (p = 0.008 and 0.01, respectively) and in the yellow bone marrow (p = 0.013 and 0.039) for all subjects. ADCALL and ADCHIGH were also negatively correlated with FF in the liver parenchyma (p = 0.006 and 0.008, respectively) and in yellow bone marrow (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001) in all subjects.

CONCLUSION

The ADCs of normal liver parenchyma and bone marrow change significantly with age. The ADCs of bone marrow in women are significantly higher than those of men and correlate strongly with FF. These effects may have an impact on image interpretation when using whole-body DWI to assess disease burden and treatment response.

A study of the relationship between gender/age and apparent diffusion coefficient values in spleen of healthy adults using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Background:

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) systems are very effective in detecting strokes, and they also have shown significant promise in the detection of fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver. However, such systems have the disadvantages of poor reproducibility and noise, which can diminish the accuracy of the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) provided by the DWI process. The main aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the age and gender of healthy adults in terms of the ADC values of the spleen measured by DWI.

Methods:

Sixty-nine subjects selected for this study from people who were referred to the Tabesh Medical Imaging Center in Tabriz, Iran, in 2013. Each subject underwent echo-planar DWI for her or his ADC values of the spleen with b-values of 50, 400, and 800 s/mm2, and the resulting ADC values were evaluated.

Results:

No significant differences were observed in ADC values of the spleen among the female and male participants or those from various ages (P>0.05).

Conclusions:

Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the effect of age and gender on the spleen’s ADC values can be omitted from the spleen-diagnosis procedure. In other words, the spleen’s ADC values are not related to the age or the gender of healthy adults.