More articles from Head & Neck

Readout-segmented echo-planar (RESOLVE)-DWI is a new alternative technique for obtaining DWI with high quality, delivering sharp images at high spatial resolution and reduced slice thickness. Fifty patients with chronic otitis media who underwent MR imaging before an operation of the middle ear were included. The MR imaging protocol consisted of axial and coronal readout-segmented echo-planar DWI with b-values of 0 and 1000 s/mm² and 3-mm slice thickness. The readout segmented echo-planar diffusion-weighted images were fused with standard T2-weighted sequences for better anatomic assignment. Readout-segmented echo-planar DWI detected 22 of the 25 cases of surgically proved cholesteatoma. It has an accuracy of 92%, a sensitivity of 88%, a specificity of 96%, a positive predictive value of 96%, and a negativepredictive value of 89%. Readout-segmented echo-planar DWI is a promising and reliable MR imaging sequence for the detection and exclusion of cholesteatoma.