Value of magnetic resonance diffusion combined with perfusion imaging techniques for diagnosing potentially malignant breast lesions

Table 1 Comparison of the clinical features between benign and malignant patients.

Variables	Benign (n = 36)	Malignant (n = 47)	P value
Age (yr)	44 (28-54)	57 (27-79)	0.238
Family history, n (%)	3 (9.7)	2 (3.8)	0.316
History of benign breast diseases, n (%)	4 (14.8)	5 (9.6)	0.673
History of marriage, n (%)	31 (86.1)	45 (95.7)	0.583
History of delivery, n (%)	29 (80.6)	42 (89.4)	0.402
Long term use of exogenous estrogen, n (%)	0	6 (11.8)	0.242
Alcohol abuse, n (%)	0	1 (1.9)	0.709
Age of menarche, n (%)			0.477
< 12 years old	2 (6.5)	5 (9.6)
≥ 12 years old	29 (93.5)	47 (90.4)
Age of menopause, n (%)1			0.021
> 55 years old	3 (9.7)	7 (13.5)
≤ 55 years old	21 (67.7)	38 (73.1)

¹Patients younger than 55 and not menopausal were not included in this parameter.

Table 2 Characteristics of the lesions

Parameters		Benign (n = 46)	Malignant (n = 49)	P value
Lesion size (cm)		1.5 (0.6-2.7)	2.4 (1.6-5.7)	0.007
Perfusion imaging parameters	Ktrans	0.076 ± 0.001	0.681 ± 0.013	< 0.001
	Kep	0.140 ± 0.004	1.892 ± 0.021	< 0.001
	Ve	0.577 ± 0.012	0.316 ± 0.010	0.866

K^trans: Volume transfer constant; K_ep: Rate constant; V_e: Extravascular extracellular volume fraction.

Table 3 Apparent diffusion coefficient values by histopathological results, in relation to the 1.20 × 10^-3 mm²/s cut-off point, among the 95 lesions evaluated (mean ± SD)

Histopathological results	Number of lesions		< 1.20 × 10-3 mm2/s, n (%)	≥ 1.20 × 10-3 mm2/s, n (%)
Benign	46	1.42 ± 0.24	9 (19.6)	37 (80.4)
Fibrocystic hyperplasia	19	1.44 ± 0.32	4 (21.1)	15 (78.9)
Fibroadenoma	7	1.49 ± 0.27	2 (28.6)	5 (71.4)
Adenopathy	13	1.38 ± 0.26	2 (15.4)	11 (84.6)
Catheter dilatation	2	1.69 ± 0.36	1 (50.0)	1 (50.0)
Inflammation	5	1.16 ± 0.08	3 (60.0)	2 (40.0)
Malignant	49	1.08 ± 0.30	35 (71.4)	14 (28.6)
Ductal carcinoma in situ	16	1.24 ± 0.25	9 (56.3)	7 (43.7)
Invasive ductal carcinoma	24	0.92 ± 0.23	21 (87.5)	3 (12.5)
Invasive lobular carcinoma	5	1.16 ± 0.19	3 (60.0)	2 (40.0)
Neuroendocrine carcinoma	3	0.95 ± 0.67	2 (66.7)	1 (33.3)
Invasive mucinous carcinoma	1	1.84 ± 0.56	0 (0)	1 (100)

Table 4 Imaging diagnosis and pathological results of granulomatous mastitis and breast cancer by perfusion-weighted imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging

	Positive	False-positive	Negative	False-negative	Total	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	Accuracy (%)
PWI	41	8	39	7	95	85.4	83.0	84.2
DWI	35	14	37	9	95	79.5	72.5	75.8
PWI combined with DWI	44	5	42	4	95	91.7	89.3	90.5

Positive: Diagnosed malignant by magnetic resonance imaging; Negative: Diagnosed benign by magnetic resonance imaging; PWI: Perfusion-weighted imaging; DWI: Diffusion-weighted imaging.