Quantitative MR texture analysis for the differentiation of uterine smooth muscle tumors with high signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging

The purpose of this study was to distinguish leiomyosarcomas/smooth muscle tumors of uncertain malignant potential (STUMP) from leiomyomas with high signal intensity (SI) on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) using quantitative MR texture analysis combined with patient characteristics and visual assessment. Thirty-one leiomyomas, 2 STUMPs, and 6 leiomyosarcomas showing high SI on T2WI were included. First, we searched for differences in patient characteristics and visual assessment between leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas/STUMPs. We also compared the MR texture on T2WI and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) to identify differences between leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas/STUMPs. In the univariate analysis, significant differences between leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas/STUMPs were observed in age, menopausal status, margin, hemorrhage, long diameter, T2-variance, T2-volume, ADC-variance, ADC-entropy, ADC-uniformity, ADC-90th and 95th percentile values, and ADC-volume (P < .05, respectively). There were significantly more postmenopausal patients with leiomyosarcomas/STUMPs than with leiomyomas, and leiomyosarcomas/STUMPs had more irregular margins, more frequent presence of hemorrhage and exhibited larger tumor diameters, T2-volume, T2-variance, ADC-volume, ADC-variance, ADC-entropy, and higher ADC-90th and 95th percentile values but lower ADC-uniformity. Multivariate analyses revealed that the independent differentiators were menopausal status, hemorrhage and ADC-entropy (P < .05, respectively). The area under the curve obtained by combining the 3 items was 0.980. The best cutoff value for ADC-entropy was 9.625 (sensitivity: 100%, specificity: 58%). The combination of menopausal status, hemorrhage, and ADC-entropy can help accurately distinguish leiomyosarcomas/STUMPs from leiomyomas with high SI on T2WI; however, external validation in a larger population is required because of the small sample size of our study.