Role of Quantitative Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI in Evaluating Regional Lymph Nodes With a Short-Axis Diameter of Less Than 5 mm in Rectal Cancer

The aim of this study was to discriminate metastatic from nonmetastatic regional lymph nodes (LNs) with short-axis diameters of less than 5 mm in rectal cancer using quantitative parameters derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI. Sixty-five LNs from 122 patients were evaluated, including malignant LNs (n = 27) and benign LNs (n = 38). The following parameters were assessed: the forward volume transfer constant (K ), reverse volume transfer constant (k ), fractional extravascular extracellular space volume (Ve), short-axis diameter, long-axis diameter, and short- to long-axis diameter ratio. ROC curves were used to analyze statistically significant parameters. Metastatic LNs exhibited a lower K than did nonmetastatic LNs (p < 0.001), but the other parameters were not significantly different between the two groups. The AUC of the K was 0.732, with a 95% CI of 0.610-0.854, and the diagnostic cutoff value was 0.088 min (sensitivity, 60.5%; specificity, 81.5%). K had moderate diagnostic performance in assessing small regional LNs in rectal cancer and appears to be a useful predictor when distinguishing malignant LNs from benign LNs only by morphology is difficult.