Sandwich sign of Borrmann type 4 gastric cancer on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Objective: To assess the appearance of Borrmann type 4 (BT-4) gastric cancer on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) and to investigate the potential of qualitative and quantitative DW images analysis to differentiate BT-4 gastric cancer from poorly distended normal stomach wall. Materials and methods: DWI was performed on 23 patients with BT-4 gastric cancer and 23 healthy volunteers. The signal characteristics and correlated histopathological basis of the cancers on DWI were investigated. The contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) of cancer were compared between DWI and T1WI/T2WI. The thickness and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of cancer and normal stomach wall were compared. Results: All of the gastric cancers displayed hyperintensity compared to the nearby normal gastric wall on DWI. A three-layer sandwich sign that demonstrated high signal intensity in the inner and outer layer, and low signal intensity in the intermediate layer was observed in 69.6% of cancers on DWI. The low signal intensity represents the muscularis propria through the comparison with pathology, and it is postulated that scattering distribution of the cancer cells in this layer causes less damage and subsequently less restriction of water movement, which causes the low signal intensity on DWI. The CNR obtained with DWI was higher than that with T1WI and T2WI (P < 0.001). The mean ADC value of BT-4 gastric cancer was significantly lower than the poorly distended normal stomach wall (1.12 +/- 0.23 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s vs. 1.93 +/- 0.22 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s, P < 0.01). Conclusion: DWI can highlight the signals of BT-4 gastric cancer which may present a characteristic three-layer sandwich sign, and ADC values are helpful in the discrimination of gastric cancer from poorly distended stomach wall. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.