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Diagnostic ability of apparent diffusion coefficients for lymphomas and carcinomas in the pharynx

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Abstract

We evaluated the diagnostic ability of diffusion-weighted imaging for the differentiation between lymphomas and carcinomas in the pharynx and between carcinomas with different histological types in the pharynx. T1-weighted, fat-suppressed T2-weighted, and diffusion-weighted MR imaging was performed on 14 patients with pharyngeal lymphomas, 26 patients with carcinomas of the pharynx, 5 patients with adenoidal hypertrophy, and 22 patients with normal tonsils. Apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were determined by using two b factors (500 and 1,000 s/mm2). The ADCs of lymphomas were significantly smaller (0.454 ± 0.075 × 10−3 mm2/s) than those of carcinomas (0.863 ± 0.238 × 10−3 mm2/s). The ADCs of poorly differentiated and undifferentiated carcinomas (0.691 ± 0.149 × 10−3 mm2/s) were significantly smaller than those of moderately differentiated and well-differentiated carcinomas (0.971 ± 0.221 × 10−3 mm2/s), but were significantly larger than those of lymphomas. When an ADC smaller than 0.560 × 10−3 mm2/s was used for predicting lymphomas, we obtained the highest accuracy of 96%, with 100% sensitivity and 94% specificity, 86% positive predictive value, and 100% negative predictive value. Therefore, ADC measurements effectively differentiate lymphomas from carcinomas in the pharynx and could be a useful adjunct to biopsy-based development of treatment planning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, Nagasaki, Japan

    Misa Sumi, Yoko Ichikawa & Takashi Nakamura

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  1. Misa Sumi
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  2. Yoko Ichikawa
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  3. Takashi Nakamura
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Correspondence to Takashi Nakamura.

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Sumi, M., Ichikawa, Y. & Nakamura, T. Diagnostic ability of apparent diffusion coefficients for lymphomas and carcinomas in the pharynx. Eur Radiol 17, 2631–2637 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-007-0588-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-007-0588-z

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