Comparison of magnetic resonance elastography and diffusion-weighted imaging for differentiating benign and malignant liver lesions

Objectives Comparison of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for differentiating malignant and benign focal liver lesions (FLLs). Methods Seventy-nine subjects with 124 FLLs (44 benign and 80 malignant) underwent both MRE and DWI. MRE was performed with a modified gradient-echo sequence and DWI with a free breathing technique (b = 0.500). Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and stiffness maps were generated. FLL mean stiffness and ADC values were obtained by placing regions of interest over the FLLs on stiffness and ADC maps. The accuracy of MRE and DWI for differentiation of benign and malignant FLL was compared using receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis. Results There was a significant negative correlation between stiffness and ADC (r = -0.54, p < 0.0001) of FLLs. Malignant FLLs had significantly higher mean stiffness (7.9kPa vs. 3.1kPa, p < 0.001) and lower mean ADC (129 vs. 200 x 10(-3)mm(2)/s, p < 0.001) than benign FLLs. The sensitivity/specificity/positive predictive value/negative predictive value for differentiating malignant from benign FLLs with MRE (cut-off, > 4.54kPa) and DWI (cut-off, < 151 x 10(-3)mm(2)/s) were 96.3/95.5/97.5/93.3 % (p < 0.001) and 85/81.8/88.3/75 % (p < 0.001), respectively. ROC analysis showed significantly higher accuracy for MRE than DWI (0.986 vs. 0.82, p = 0.0016). Conclusion MRE is significantly more accurate than DWI for differentiating benign and malignant FLLs.