High-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging for the separation of benign from malignant BI-RADS 4/5 lesions found on breast MRI at 3T.

PURPOSE: To determine whether readout-segmented echo-planar diffusion imaging (RESOLVE) improves separation of malignant versus benign lesions compared to standard single-shot echo-planar imaging (ss-EPI) on BI-RADS 4/5 lesions detected on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive 3T breast MRI studies with BI-RADS 4/5 designation and subsequent biopsy or benign mastectomy were retrospectively identified. Freehand regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn on lesions and also on normal background fibroglandular tissue for comparison. Lesion-to-background contrast was evaluated by normalizing signal intensity of the lesion ROI by the normal background tissue ROI at b = 800. Statistical analysis used the Mann-Whitney/Wilcoxon rank-sum test for unpaired and Wilcoxon signed-rank for paired comparisons.
RESULTS: Of 38 lesions in 32 patients, 10 were malignant. Lesion-to-background contrast was higher on RESOLVE than ss-EPI (1.80 ± 0.71 vs. 1.62 ± 0.63, P = 0.03). Mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was the same or lower on RESOLVE than ss-EPI, and this effect was largest in malignant lesions (RESOLVE 0.90 ± 0.13; ss-EPI 1.00 ± 0.13; median difference -0.10 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.17, -0.02) × 10(-3) mm(2) /sec; P = 0.014). By either diffusion method, there was a statistically significant difference between benign and malignant mean ADC (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Increased lesion-to-background contrast and improved separation of benign from malignant lesions by RESOLVE compared to standard diffusion suggests that RESOLVE may show promise as an adjunct to clinical breast MRI.