Assessment of breast mass: Utility of diffusion-weighted MR and MR spectroscopy imaging

Abstract Background Using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) combined to MRI is helpful to distinguish malignant versus benign breast lesions. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy provides biochemical information about the tissue under investigation. Patient and methods The study included 30 patients with suspicious breast lesions detected by clinical examination, mammography and/or breast ultrasound. All patients included in this study were subjected to Mammographic examination, ultrasound examination, and MRI examination including diffusion-weighted imaging and proton MR spectroscopy. Results In this study the sensitivity of MRS was 90%, its specificity was 78.6%, accuracy was 85%, PPV was 85.7% and NPV was 84.6%. Regarding the sensitivity of diffusion and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), it was 90%, while its specificity was 92.8% and 91.1%, 94.7%, 86.6% for the accuracy, PPV and NPV respectively. Conclusion The combination of MRS and DWI with magnetic resonance imaging should provide complementary information not available by either modality alone.