The Comparative Study Of Whole Body Diffusion-weighted Imaging And Bone Scintigraphy In Detection Of Bone Metastasis

Objective:To prospectively compare the capability for bone metastasis assessment of whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging and bone scintigraphy in malignant neoplasm.Methods:22 patients with malignancy history were enrolled in our study. All patients underwent whole body diffusion-weighted imaging and bone scintigraphy within two weeks. The images were reviewed separately by two radiologists and two nuclear medicine physicians, who were blinded to the results of the other imaging modality. The per-site based sensitivities and specificities of the two techniques for detecting bone metastasis were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) were used to determine the diagnostic capabilities of whole body diffusion-weighted imaging and bone scintigraphy for bone metastasis diagnosis.Results:Total 182 lesions in 18 patients were diagnosed by pathological examinations or whole body MRI dates,161 lesions were detected by whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging and 157 lesions by bone scintigraphy. The per-site based sensitivities and specificities were 87.3% and 92.7% for whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging,84.1% and 90.5% for bone scintigraphy,the area under curve (AUC) of whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging and bone scintigraphy were 0.900 and 0.873.The Hanley-McNeil test was used for testing the statistical significance of the difference between the areas under ROC curves, Z=1.582,P>0.05,there is no statistical significant difference between whole body diffusion-weighted imaging and bone scintigraphy in bone metastasis diagnosis.Conclusion:The capabilities of whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging and bone scintigraphy were no statistical significant difference for bone metastasis assessment. As a result, whole body DWI can be a new and effective method for bone metastasis assessment.