Differentiation of malignant and benign breast lesions: Added value of the qualitative analysis of breast lesions on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) using readout segmented echo-planar imaging at 3.0 T

Objective To determine the added value of qualitative analysis as an adjunct to quantitative analysis for the discrimination of benign and malignant lesions in patients with breast cancer using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (rs-EPI). Methods A total of 99 patients with 144 lesions were reviewed from our prospectively collected database. DWI data were obtained using rs-EPI acquired at 3.0 T. The diagnostic performances of DWI in the qualitative, quantitative, and combination analyses were compared with that of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). Additionally, the effect of lesion size on the diagnostic performance of the DWI combination analysis was evaluated. Results The strongest indicators of malignancy on DWI were a heterogeneous pattern (P = 0.005) and an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value <1.0 x 10-3 mm2/sec (P = 0.002). The area under the curve (AUC) values for the qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and combination analysis on DWI were 0.732 (95% CI, 0.651-0.803), 0.780 (95% CI, 0.7030.846), and 0.826 (95% CI, 0.754-0.885), respectively (P<0.0001). The AUC for the combination analysis on DWI was superior to that for DCE-MRI alone (0.651, P = 0.003) but inferior to that for DCE-MRI plus the ADC value (0.883, P = 0.03). For the DWI combination analysis, the sensitivity was significantly lower in the size <1 cm group than in the size >1 cm group (80% vs. 95.6%, P = 0.034). Conclusions Qualitative analysis of tumor morphology was diagnostically applicable on DWI using rsEPI. This qualitative analysis adds value to quantitative analyses for lesion characterization in patients with breast cancer.