High-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging compared with conventional diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging with regard to image quality and assessment of breast cancer morphology

Q: What was the main purpose of this study?

To evaluate image quality and tumor morphology depiction ability of high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging (f-DWI) compared with conventional DWI (c-DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in primary breast cancer.

Q: What were the key findings regarding image quality and morphology assessment?

ADC values on f-DWI were significantly lower than on c-DWI, while lesion size was larger on c-DWI than on f-DWI and DCE-MRI. f-DWI showed significantly better concordance with DCE-MRI for morphological parameters than c-DWI, and both f-DWI and DCE-MRI scored higher for sharpness and perceived SNR than c-DWI.

Sep 24, 2026

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High-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging (f-DWI) was assessed against conventional diffusion-weighted imaging (c-DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) to determine image quality and the ability to depict primary breast cancer tumor morphology. In a retrospective evaluation of 160 malignant breast masses by two independent radiologists, sharpness, perceived signal-to-noise ratio, and morphological parameter concordance were compared across modalities. f-DWI produced higher-quality images than c-DWI and showed significantly better correlation with DCE-MRI for morphological assessment, while c-DWI showed greater distortion and lower agreement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Copyright@Author(s) -[Available online at dirjournal.org.](Available online at dirjournal.org. ORIGINAL)[ ORIGINAL](Available online at dirjournal.org. ORIGINAL) ARTICLE Content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. High-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging compared with conventional diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrastenhanced magnetic resonance imaging with regard to image quality and assessment of breast cancer morphology Yavuz Metin Nurgül Orhan Metin Sibel Kul Filiz Taşçı Oğuzhan Özdemir Ali Küpeli From the Department of Radiology (Y.M. 􀀍 ymetin53@ [gmail.com](gmail.com)), Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey; Clinic of Radiology (N.O.M.), Beytepe Murat Erdi Eker State Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; Department of Radiology (S.K.), Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey; Department of Radiology (F.T.), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Faculty of Medicine, Rize, Turkey; Clinic of Radiology (O.Ö.), Keçiören Medical Park Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; Clinic of Radiology (A.K.), Trabzon Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey Received 24 April 2021; revision requested 28 May 2021; last revision received 29 November 2021; accepted 30 December 2021. Epub: 10.02.2023 Publication date: 29.03.2023 DOI: 10.5152/dir.2022.21362 PURPOSE To evaluate the image quality and tumor morphology depiction ability of high resolution (HR) diffusion-weighted imaging (f-DWI) in comparison to conventional DWI (c-DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in the primary breast cancer setting. METHODS The f-DWI, c-DWI, and DCE-MRIs of 160 malignant breast masses were evaluated retrospectively by two independent radiologists. Data on image quality [sharpness, distortion, and perceived signalto-noise ratio (SNR)], apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value, lesion size, and tumor morphology (shape, margin, and internal pattern) obtained on f-DWI, c-DWI, and DCE-MRI were compared. Consistency between the readers and imaging methods for morphological parameters was analyzed. RESULTS The ADC values measured on f-DWI were significantly lower than those measured on c-DWI for both readers (P < 0.001 for each), whereas mean lesion size was significantly larger in c-DWI than inf-DWI and DCE-MRI for both readers (P < 0.001 for each) . Higher consistency values were obtained for f-DWI compared with c-DWI when correlated with DCE-MRI for each morphological parameter. The least distorted images were obtained using DCE-MRI compared with c-DWI and f-DWI for both readers, whereas the highest distortion scores were obtained using c-DWI. Sharpness and perceived SNR scores were rated as significantly higher for f-DWI and DCE-MRI images compared with c-DWI by both readers (P < 0.001 for all). The concordance between c-DWI and DCE-MRI was fair to slight (κ = 0.15 to 0.41), whereas concordance between f-DWI and DCE-MRI was significantly better (κ = 0.68 to 0.87) for each reader and for all morphological parameters (P < 0.001). The highest concordance between the readers was achieved in margin assessment (κ = 0.87 to 0.89) regardless of the MRI method, followed by shape and internal pattern parameters (κ = 0.63 to 0.79) . CONCLUSION The results demonstrated that f-DWI produces higher-quality images than c-DWI, enabling the morphological features to be identified in similar detail to that offered by HR DCE-MRI. Accordingly, f-DWI, as a method that highly correlates with DCE in determining the morphological characteristics of breast cancers, seems to have potential in the evaluation of breast tumors in patients for whom the use of contrast media is contraindicated. KEYWORDS Breast cancer, conventional, high resolution diffusion weighted, magnetic resonance imaging, tumor morphology You may cite this article as: Metin Y, Orhan Metin N, Kul S, Taşçı F, Özdemir O, Küpeli A. Hig

FAQs

What was the main purpose of this study?

To evaluate image quality and tumor morphology depiction ability of high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging (f-DWI) compared with conventional DWI (c-DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in primary breast cancer.

How were the imaging methods evaluated?

f-DWI, c-DWI, and DCE-MRIs of 160 malignant breast masses were retrospectively assessed by two independent radiologists. Image quality metrics, ADC values, lesion size, and morphological features (shape, margin, internal pattern) were compared.

What were the key findings regarding image quality and morphology assessment?

ADC values on f-DWI were significantly lower than on c-DWI, while lesion size was larger on c-DWI than on f-DWI and DCE-MRI. f-DWI showed significantly better concordance with DCE-MRI for morphological parameters than c-DWI, and both f-DWI and DCE-MRI scored higher for sharpness and perceived SNR than c-DWI.

Sep 24, 2026

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