Differentiation of malignant and benign breast lesions: Added value of the qualitative analysis of breast lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) using readout-segmented echo-planar imaging at 3.0 T.

OBJECTIVE:To determine the added value of qualitative analysis as an adjunct to quantitative analysis for the discrimination of benign and malignant lesions in patients with breast cancer using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (rs-EPI). METHODS:A total of 99 patients with 144 lesions were reviewed from our prospectively collected database. DWI data were obtained using rs-EPI acquired at 3.0 T. The diagnostic performances of DWI in the qualitative, quantitative, and combination analyses were compared with that of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). Additionally, the effect of lesion size on the diagnostic performance of the DWI combination analysis was evaluated. RESULTS:The strongest indicators of malignancy on DWI were a heterogeneous pattern (P = 0.005) and an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value 1 cm group (80% vs. 95.6%, P = 0.034). CONCLUSIONS:Qualitative analysis of tumor morphology was diagnostically applicable on DWI using rs-EPI. This qualitative analysis adds value to quantitative analyses for lesion characterization in patients with breast cancer