The Value Of Whole Body MR-diffusion Weighted Imaging(MR-DWI) In Detection Of Bone Metastasis.

ObjectiveTo compare MR diffusion weighted imaging(MR-DW I) with 99mTc2MDP wholebody bone scan in terms ofefficiency and feasibility of MR-DWI in detection of bone metastasis.MethodsTwenty two patients with malignant tumors and bone metastasiswere enrolled. For each patient, bone scan and MR-DWI were performed within one week. The skeletal system was divided into7 regions:skull, sternum and clavicle, scapula, ribs, spine, pelvis, limbs. Hot spots as well as cold spots in bone scan images with metastatic characteristics and signals higher than background in MR-DWI were distinguished as metastatic foci.ResultsExcept for thespine, MR-DWI displayed fewermetastatic foci than bone scan images in each of the other 5 skeletal regions. Compared with wholebody bone scan, the detection rate of MR-DWI is 83.6%. However, MR-DWI image displayed metastatic foci in 3 cases although their bonescan images were negative.ConclusionMR-DW I has good detection rate, and can act as the supplement of wholebody bone scan in bone metastasis.Combination of bone scan and MR-DWI will increase the detection rate in bone metastasis detection.