Metastases in mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: quantitative assessment with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and apparent diffusion coefficient.

Objective: To evaluate diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (DW-MR) imaging for detection of metastases in lymph nodes by using quantitative analysis. Methods: Seventy patients with non-small cell lung cancer were examined with DW and short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) turbo-spin-echo MR imaging. Apparent diffusion coefficient of each lung cancer and lymph node was calculated from DW-MR images. Difference of the apparent diffusion coefficient in a lung cancer and a lymph node was calculated (D1). From STIR turbo-spin-echo MR images, ratios of signal intensity in a lymph node to that in a 0.9% saline phantom was calculated (lymph node-saline ratio [LSR1]). For quantitative analysis, the threshold value for a positive test was determined on a per node basis and tested for ability to enable a correct diagnosis on a per patient basis. Results of quantitative analyses of DW- and STIR-MR images were compared on a per patient basis with McNemar testing. Results: Mean D I in the lymph node group with metastases was lower than that in the group without metastases (P < 0.001). When an D I of 0.24 x 10(-3) mm(2)/S was used as the positive test threshold, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 69.2%, 100%, and 94.0%, respectively, on a per patient basis. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between quantitative analyses of DW-MR images and STIR-MR images. Conclusions: Quantitative analysis of DW-MR images enables differentiation of lymph nodes with metastasis from those without.