Application values of 3.0T magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging for distinguishing liver malignant tumors and benign lesions

The aim of the present study was to investigate the significance and values of 3.0T diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) to differentially diagnose benign and malignant space-occupying liver lesions. A total of 91 patients with liver space-occupying lesions (145 lesions) were admitted into Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University (Wuhan, China) from November 2015 to May 2016. Routine scanning, DWI and high-resolution T2-weighted imaging using spin-echo echo-planar imaging were performed on all patients, to compare the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of three regions of interest in lesions with normal liver tissue. The ADC values of malignant liver lesions compared with benign liver cysts demonstrated a statistically significant difference in low b-value (P<0.05) and there was also a significant difference between malignant lesion and hepatic cyst, hepatic hemangioma or hepatic abscess in middle b-value (P<0.05). The measured ADC value may be more conducive to identify the nature of the liver space-occupying lesions; as the ADC values of malignant liver lesion, liver cyst, and liver abscesses demonstrated a statistical significance in high b-value (P<0.05). The mean ADC values between malignant liver tumors compared with benign lesions indicated a statistically significant difference. In the present study, liver space-occupying lesions demonstrated different DWI features and ADC ranges, and 3.0T DWI may be a potential means to accurately determine the nature of lesions, identifying benign and malignant space-occupying lesions.