Cerebral schistosomiasis: diffusion-weighted imaging helps to differentiate from brain glioma and metastasis

BackgroundDiffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was introduced into clinical use some years ago. However, its use in the diagnosis of cerebral schistosomiasis has not been reported.PurposeTo investigate the ability of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of DWI in the diagnosis of cerebral schistosomiasis, and to differentiate it from brain high-grade gliomas and metastasis.Material and MethodsConventional brain MRI with pre-contrast, post-contrast, and DWI was performed on 50 cases of cerebral schistosomiasis, high-grade glioma, and brain metastasis. The ADC values of the three lesions, the proximal and the distal perifocal edema were measured. In order to remove the individual difference effect of ADC values, relative ADC (rADC) values were calculated through dividing the ADC value of the lesion area by that of the contralateral normal white matter. rADC values were used to evaluate the differences among cerebral schistosomiasis, brain high-grade gliomas, and metastasis.ResultsrADC of cerebral schi...