Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion‐weighted imaging of the pancreas: Characterization of benign and malignant pancreatic pathologies

Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) parameters in differentiating patients with either a normal pancreas (NP), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), neuroendocrine tumor (NET), solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT), acute pancreatitis (AcP), vs. autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP). Materials and Methods In all, 84 pathologically confirmed pancreatic tumors (60 PDACs, 15 NETs, 9 SPTs), 20 pancreatitis (13 AcPs, 7 AIPs), and 30 NP subjects underwent IVIM diffusion‐weighted imaging using 10 b‐values (0–900 sec/mm2) at 1.5T. The ADC, pure molecular diffusion coefficient (Dslow), perfusion fraction (f), and perfusion‐related diffusion coefficient (Dfast) were calculated and compared using a Kruskal–Wallis test and post‐hoc Dunn procedure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess diagnostic performance. Results The f and Dfast of the PDAC were significantly lower than that of the NP (f = 0.10 vs. 0.24; Dfast = 42.21 vs. 71.74 × 10−3mm2/sec; P < 0.05). In ROC analysis, f showed the best diagnostic performance (area‐under‐the‐curve, 0.919) among all parameters in differentiating PDAC from NP (P ≤ 0.001). The f values of AcP (0.11) and AIP (0.13) and the Dfast values of SPT (20.48 × 10−3mm2/sec) and AcP (24.49 × 10−3mm2/sec) were significantly lower compared with NP (f = 0.24; Dfast = 71.74 × 10−3mm2/sec; P < 0.05). For NET, the f (0.21) was significantly higher than that of PDAC (0.10, P < 0.01). Conclusion Perfusion‐related parameters f and Dfast are more helpful in characterizing pancreatic diseases than ADC or Dslow. The PDCA, SPT, AcP, and AIP were characterized by reduced f and Dfast values compared with normal pancreas. The f value might help in differentiating between PDAC and NET. Level of Evidence: 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:260–269.