Whole-body magnetic resonance/diffusion-weighted sequence with background signal suppression (WB-MR/DWIBS) vs. 18F-FDG PET/CT in diagnosis of lymphoma

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to compare the performance of whole-body magnetic resonance/diffusion-weighted imaging with background signal suppression (WB-MR/DWIBS) method, with that of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT), for lesion detection and initial staging of patients with lymphoma using the histopathologically diagnosis as a reference standard.ResultsThirty-two patients with newly pathologically proven lymphoma were enrolled in this prospective study from May 2018 to January 2020 (27 males, 5 females). All patients underwent PET/CT followed by WB-MR/DWIBS as an attempt to compare the performance of both methods for lesion detection and initial staging in patients with lymphoma.The overall sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of 18F-FDG-PET/CT vs WB-MR/DWIBS in correlation with reference standard data in detection of lymphoma were calculated for PET/CT 96%, 100%, 100%, 80%, and 97% while those of WB-MR/DWIBS were 93%, 76%, 96%, 61%, and 91%, respectively.Conclusion18F-FDG PET/CT remains the standard reference of imaging in evaluation of lymphoma due to its higher sensitivity and specificity over WB-MR/DWIBS. Future studies with larger cohorts are necessary for better evaluation of the role of WB-MR/DWIBS in lymphoma patients. The current study highlights the potential complementary role of WB-MRI/DWIBS in the context of bone marrow involvement evaluation omitting unnecessary bone marrow biopsy.