Can DKI-MRI predict recurrence and invasion of peritumoral zone of hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization?

Table 1 Summary of clinical data of patients in true and pseudo-progressing groups

Characteristic	All cases (n = 82)		True group (n = 48)	Pseudo-group (n = 34)	P value
Age range (yr)	55 ± 12		50 ± 16	53 ± 14	0.745
Male/female (n)	46/30		26/18	20/12	0.402
AFP (ng/mL) (+/-)	49/33		47/1	2/32	0.001
	Tumor-related characteristics
Tumor size (cm)	4.0 ± 1.8		4.2 ± 1.6	2.7 ± 1.3	0.142
Enhancement (+/-)	50/32		46/2	4/30	0.006
DSA (+/-)	42/27		42/2	0/25	< 0.010
Resection (+/-)	10		9	1	-
TACE times (single/repeated)	26/56		4/44	22/12	< 0.011
Follow-up for > 6 mo (+/-)	39/33		39/0	0/33	< 0.001

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; DSA: Digital subtraction angiography; TACE: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

Table 2 Evaluation of inter-observer agreement using intra-class correlation coefficient analysis

	MK	MD	KA	KR	DA	DR	FAk
ROI (T)	0.86	0.85	0.80	0.83	0.76	0.78	0.62
ROI (N)	0.79	0.74	0.71	0.76	0.72	0.75	0.54
ROI (F)	0.70	0.73	0.69	0.68	0.64	0.70	0.50

FAk: Anisotropy coefficient of kurtosis; ROC: Receiver operating characteristic curve; MD: Mean diffusivity; MK: Mean kurtosis; KA: Axial kurtosis; KR: Radial kurtosis; DA: Axial diffusivity; DR: Radial diffusivity.

Table 3 Diffusion kurtosis imaging derived metrics in true and pseudo-progressing lesions

	MK	MD	KR	KA	DR	DA	FAk
N	0.60 ± 0.15	1.90 ± 0.65	0.55 ± 0.16	0.60 ± 0.13	1.88 ± 0.55	2.20 ± 0.63	0.10 ± 0.09
Y	0.71 ± 0.24	1.60 ± 0.45	0.65 ± 0.29	0.70 ± 0.15	1.4 ± 0.38	2.10 ± 0.60	0.32 ± 0.22
Std-N	0.68 ± 0.27	1.89 ± 0.58	0.70 ± 0.31	0.61 ± 0.16	2.01 ± 0.54	1.60 ± 0.42	0.54 ± 0.32
Std-Y	0.81 ± 0.23	0.91 ± 0.18	0.75 ± 0.24	1.03 ± 0.20	0.88 ± 0.22	0.92 ± 0.22	1.07 ± 0.78
P value	0.270	0.009	0.679	0.000	0.003	0.000	0.000

N = pseudo-progressing group; Y = true progressing group. FAk: Anisotropy coefficient of kurtosis; MD: Mean diffusivity; MK: Mean kurtosis; KA: Axial kurtosis; KR: Radial kurtosis; DA: Axial diffusivity; DR: Radial diffusivity.