Applications of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) has received more attention recently, especially from uroradiologists, owing to its role in the characterization of renal lesions. Moreover, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), a value calculated based on DW-MRIs, has been used to analyze renal lesions quantitatively. However, many factors influence the accuracy of the ADC value calculation during the DW-MRI procedure. In addition, it is of great interest whether DW-MRI is superior to more conventional dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI for the characterization of renal lesions, or whether DW-MRI combined with DCE-MRI may provide more valuable information. Here we review state-of-the-art DW-MRI for the evaluation of renal cell carcinomas, discuss factors that influence the calculation of ADC maps, examine the impact of field strength on ADC values and, finally, compare DW-MRI and DCE-MRI for imaging renal lesions.

Keywords::

• apparent diffusion coefficient
• diffusion-weighted MR imaging
• magnetic resonance imaging
• renal cell carcinoma

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.