[Usefulness of diffusion-weighted MRI in differentiating benign from malignant musculoskeletal tumors].

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of diffusion-weighted MRI in distinguishing different components and in differentiating benign from malignant musculoskeletal tumors.

Materials and methods: Fifty-seven patients with musculoskeletal tumors underwent MR at our institution from October 1999 to April 2002. We evaluated 57 tumors (9 bone tumors and 48 soft tissue tumors). All tumors were classified into 8 groups (myxomatous, fibrous, cystic, cartilaginous, fatty components, hematomas, other benign tumors, and other malignant tumors). MR examinations were performed with a 1.5-Tesla system. Diffusion-weighted single-shot EPI images were obtained in all patients. Apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were calculated by using b factors of 0 and 1,000 sec/mm2.

Results: ADC values of myxomatous, cystic, and cartilaginous components were significantly higher than those of other tumors. In cartilaginous tumors, malignant tumor ADC values (2.33 +/- 0.44) were higher than those of benign tumors (2.13 +/- 0.13). However, there was no significant difference between benign and malignant tumors. Except for high-intensity components on T1-weighted imaging and low or homogeneously very high intensity components on T2-weighted imaging, there was a significant difference in ADC between malignant (1.35 +/- 0.40) and benign (1.97 +/- 0.50) tumors.

Conclusion: Within the limited number of cases, there was a significant difference in ADC between malignant and benign tumors.