Study of the Reduced Field-of-View Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of the Breast

Reduced field-of-view diffusion-weighted imaging (rFOV DWI) is rarely used in magnetic resonance breast imaging. In this pilot study, we prospectively compared the imaging quality, apparent diffusion coefficient values, and application values between rFOV and single-shot echo-planar-imaging (SS-EPI) DWI in 87 cases: rFOV DWI presented images with higher resolution, lower mean ADC value and less distortion. Our findings may help clinicians improve the diagnosis of breast diseases. Background: This study aimed to compare the imaging quality, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values, and application values between reduced field-of-view diffusion-weighted imaging (rFOV DWI) and single-shot echo-planar imaging diffusion-weighted imaging (SS-EPI DWI) of breast tissue. Patients and Methods: For 87 cases (75 with normal breast tissue, 12 with mammary cancer), breasts were scanned with SS-EPI DWI and rFOV DWI (b values, 800 s/mm(2)). Image quality and ADC values of breast tissue images were compared between SS-EPI DWI and rFOV DWI. Results: The average image quality score for the 87 cases was 4.73 in rFOV DWI and 3.62 in SS-EPI DWI. The difference was statistically significant (P < .01). The resolution of rFOV DWI was 2.25 mm x 1.23 mm, which was higher than the resolution of SS-EPI DWI (2.25 mm x 2.25 mm). The mean ADC value of 75 cases with normal breast tissue was 1.696 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s by rFOV DWI and 1.832 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s by SS-EPI DWI, and the difference was statistically significant (P < .01). The mean ADC value for the 12 cases with breast cancer was 1.065 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s by rFOV DWI and 1.192 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s by SS-EPI DWI, which was a statistically significant difference (P < .05). Conclusion: rFOV DWI presented images with higher resolution and less distortion than SS-EPI DWI, and this difference may be helpful in disease diagnosis. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.