Evaluation of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 Tesla for differentiation between intracranial neoplastic and noninfectious inflammatory lesions in dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values obtained by diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) at 3.0 T for differentiating intracranial neoplastic lesions from noninfectious inflammatory lesions (NIILs) in dogs. ANIMALS: 54 dogs that met inclusion criteria (ie, had a histologically confirmed intracranial lesion and DWI of the brain performed) with 5 lesion types: meningioma [n = 18], glioma [14], metastatic hemangiosarcoma [3], other metastatic neoplasms [5], and NIIL [14]). PROCEDURES: Two observers, who were blinded to the histologic diagnoses, independently determined the mean ADC and FA values for each evaluated intracranial lesion on the basis of 3 circular regions of interest on DWI images. Findings were compared among the 5 lesion types, between all neoplasms combined and NIILs, and between the 5 legion types and previously determined values for corresponding locations for neurologically normal dogs. RESULTS: The mean ADC and FA values did not differ significantly among the 5 lesion types or between all neoplasms combined and NIILs. However, 35% (14/40) of the neoplastic lesions had an ADC value ≥ 1.443 × 10-3 mm2/s, whereas all NIILs had ADC values < 1.443 × 10-3 mm2/s. Meningiomas and NIILs had FA values that were significantly lower than those for neurologically normal dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In this population of dogs, the FA values for meningiomas and NIILs differed significantly from those previously reported for neurologically normal dogs. In addition, an ADC cutoff value of 1.443 × 10-3 mm2/s appeared to be highly specific for diagnosing neoplastic lesions (vs NIILs), although the sensitivity and accuracy were low.