Value of diffusion-weighted MRI in the differentiation of benign and malign breast lesions

INTRODUCTION: Our purpose was to determine whether diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) could be used in differentiation of benign and malign breast lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 41 women patients were included in the study. 45 lesions were diagnosed by biopsy; 25 (55.5%) of these lesions were malignant and 20 (44.5%) were benign. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of these lesions were prospectively compared with their histopathological results. RESULTS: Differentiation of the malignant and benign masses revealed that the threshold value of the ADC was 1.0x10(-3) mm(2)/s, its sensitivity was demonstrated as 95%, specificity as 100%, positive predictive as 100%, negative predictive as 94% and accuracy rate as 97%. CONCLUSIONS: DWI improves diagnostic accuracy of the conventional breast MRI. ADC measurements may be useful for differentiation of the malign and benign masses.