Prediction of Lymphovascular Space Invasion in Cervical Carcinoma Using Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging

Authors

1 Tehran University of Medical Science < maryamfarsi.tums@gmail.com>

2 Tehran University of Medical Sciences < mahrooz.malek@gmail.com>

3 Tehran University of Medical Sciences < m49rahmani@yahoo.com

4 RCMCI Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging < behzad.amanpour@gmail.com>

5 Tehran University of Medical Science < maryampourashraf12@gmail.com>

6 Tehran University of Medical Sciences < rf_samira@yahoo.com>

10.22034/icrj.2023.179803

Abstract

Background:
This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI)- derived parameters and lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) in patients with cervical carcinoma.
Patients and Methods:
This prospective study included 30 patients with cervical carcinoma. The patients underwent MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and DKI prior to surgery. The surgical pathology results were accepted as the reference standard for determining the LVSI status. The DKI-derived parameters, including mean diffusivity (MD) and mean kurtosis (MK), were measured. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value was also assessed.
Results:
The MD value of LVSI positive cervical carcinomas was significantly lower than LVSI negative carcinomas (p-value = 0.01). MK value was significantly higher in LVSI positive tumors (p-value = 0.01). However, the ADC value did not show a significant difference between LVSI positive and LVSI negative tumors (p-value = 0.2). MD and MK parameters showed similar diagnostic accuracy in identifying the LVSI status, with the area under the curve of 0.77 and 0.78, respectively.
Conclusion:
In this study, DKI-derived parameters were associated with the LVSI status in cervical carcinomas. Further studies with larger sample size are required to confirm these results.