ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the application of MR diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)in the prognosis evaluation of liver cancer after treatment of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE).Methods Forty-five patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and treated with TACE were included in the study.Digital subtraction angiography(DSA)was used as the gold standard to evaluate the value of DWI in the prognosis evaluation.Results The average apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)value of tumor necrosis tissue was (1.89±0.22)×10-3mm2/s,which was significantly different from that of tumor residual tissue of (1.39±0.27)×10-3mm2/s (P<0.05).Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosing the necrotic tissue were 82.6% and 85.3% respectively with the ADC threshold of 1.68×10-3mm2/s.The sensitivity,specificity and positive likelihood ratio of traditional MRI enhancement were 86.9%,87.8% and 7.12,respectively.The sensitivity,specificity and positive likelihood ratio of MRI enhancement combined with DWI were 95.7%,82.9% and 5.59,respectively.Conclusion DWI can distinguish tumor necrosis from tumor residual in the prognosis evaluation of liver cancer treated with TACE.Traditional MRI enhancement combined with DWI are better in detecting tumor residual and recurrence of liver cancer treated with TACE.