Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted MR imaging of gliomas: efficacy in preoperative grading

The preoperative grading of gliomas, which is critical for guiding therapeutic strategies, remains unsatisfactory. We aimed to retrospectively assess the efficacy of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the grading of gliomas. Forty-two newly diagnosed glioma patients underwent conventional MR imaging, DWI, and contrast-enhanced MR imaging. Parameters of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), slow diffusion coefficient (D), fast diffusion coefficient (D*), and fraction of fast ADC (f) were generated. They were tested for differences between low- and high-grade gliomas based on one-way ANOVA. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to determine the optimal thresholds as well as the sensitivity and specificity for grading. ADC, D, and f were higher in the low-grade gliomas, whereas D* tended to be lower (all P<0.05). The AUC, sensitivity, specificity and the cutoff value, respectively, for differentiating low- from high-grade gliomas for ADC, D and f, and differentiating high- from low-grade gliomas for D* were as follows: ADC, 0.926, 100%, 82.8%, and 0.7 × 10(−3) mm(2)/sec; D, 0.942, 92.3%, 86.2%, and 0.623 × 10(−3) mm(2)/sec; f, 0.902, 92.3%, 86.2%, and 35.3%; D*, 0.798, 79.3%, 84.6%, and 0.303 × 10(−3) mm(2)/sec. The IVIM DWI demonstrates efficacy in differentiating the low- from high-grade gliomas.