Accuracy of Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Accuracy of Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Differentiation between Malignant and Non-malignant Differentiation between Malignant and Non-malignant Maxillofacial Lesions Maxillofacial Lesions

Abstract

Objectives: to evaluate the signal characteristics of Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DWMRI) of maxillofacial intraosseous lesions and their corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and assess their ability to differentiate between malignant and non-malignant lesions. Methods: This study included 17 patients (10 males and 7 females) selected from the outpatients’ clinic of Oral Surgery Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain-shams University. They were examined by MRI machine; Philips 1.5 Tesla Achieva, Netherlands using DWMRI, T1 and T2 sequences and ADC values were measured. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between T1 signal distributions among patients with benign and malignant lesions (P-value = 0.027, Effect size = 0.685) benign lesions showed higher prevalence of low signal while malignant lesions showed higher prevalence of intermediate signal. There was a statistically significant difference between T2 signal distributions among patients with benign and malignant lesions (P-value = 0.029, Effect size = 0.609). Benign lesions showed higher prevalence of high signal while malignant lesions showed higher prevalence of intermediate signal. ROC curve analysis showed a cut-off value of (≤ 1 ´10-3 mm2) with diagnostic accuracy of 94.1%, a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 91.7% indicating that ADC values less than or equal to 1 ´10-3 mm2 indicate malignant lesion and values greater than 1 ´10-3 mm2 indicate benign lesion (P-value <0.001, Effect size = 3.25). Conclusion: DWMRI is highly accurate in the differentiation between benign and malignant intraosseous lesions of the ja