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Background: To investigate whether MRI findings, including texture analysis, can differentiate KRAS mutation status in rectal cancer., Methods: Totally, 158 patients with pathologically proved rectal cancers and preoperative pelvic MRI examinations were enrolled. Patients were stratified into two groups: KRAS wild-type group (KRAS wt group) and KRAS mutation group (KRAS mt group) according to genomic DNA extraction analysis. MRI findings of rectal cancers (including texture features) and relevant clinical characteristics were statistically evaluated to identify the differences between the two groups. The independent samples t test or Mann-Whitney U test were used for continuous variables. The differences of the remaining categorical polytomous variables were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher exact test. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the discriminatory power of MRI features. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) and the optimal cut-off values were calculated using histopathology diagnosis as a reference; meanwhile, sensitivity and specificity were determined., Results: Mean values of six texture parameters (Mean, Variance, Skewness, Entropy, gray-level nonuniformity, run-length nonuniformity) were significantly higher in KRAS mt group compared to KRAS wt group (p < 0.0001, respectively). The AUC values of texture features ranged from 0.703~0.813. In addition, higher T stage and lower ADC values were observed in the KRAS mt group compared to KRAS wt group (t = 7.086, p = 0.029; t = - 2.708, p = 0.008)., Conclusion: The MRI findings of rectal cancer, especially texture features, showed an encouraging value for identifying KRAS status.

Rationale and Objectives: This study aimed to determine the correlation between intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and multiphase dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) quantitative parameters in patients with rectal cancer., Materials and Methods: Ninety-seven patients with rectal cancer were included in this study. All pelvic MRI examinations were performed in a 3.0 T MR unit, including diffusion-weighted imaging with 16 b values, DCE-MRI with two different flip angles (5° and 10°, respectively), and T1-fast field echo sequences as the reference. The IVIM perfusion-related parameters (f, perfusion fraction; D*, pseudo-diffusion coefficient; f·D*, the multiplication of the two parameters) were calculated by biexponential analysis. Quantitative DCE-MRI parameters were transfer constant (K trans ) between blood plasma and extravascular extracellular space), K ep (rate between extravascular extracellular space and blood plasma), V e (extravascular volume fraction), V p (plasma volume fraction), and area under the gadolinium concentration curve. Interobserver agreements were evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman analysis. A p value <0.05 indicated a statistically significant difference., Results: The study included 75 males and 22 females with a median age of 58.8 years (range, 26-85years). Interobserver reproducibility for IVIM perfusion-related parameters and DCE-MRI quantitative parameters was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.8618-0.9181, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.7826-0.9088, respectively). Moderate correlations were found between f·D* and K trans (r = 0.533; p < 0.001), and relatively weak correlations between D* and K trans (r = 0.389; p < 0.001), D* and V p (r = 0.442; p < 0.001), f·D* and V p (r = 0.466; p < 0.001), and f and V p (r = -0.234; p = 0.021)., Conclusion: IVIM perfusion-related parameters, especially f·D*, demonstrated moderate correlations with DCE-MRI quantitative parameters in rectal cancer., (Copyright © 2018 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has found clinical applications in the evaluation of the central nervous system and has been extensively used to image peripheral neuropathy. However, few studies have focused on lumbosacral nerve root fiber damage in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The aim of the study was to evaluate whether DTI of the lumbosacral nerve roots can be used to detect DPN. Methods: Thirty-two type 2 diabetic patients with DPN and thirty healthy controls (HCs) were investigated with a 3T MRI scanner. DTI with tractography of the L4, L5, and S1 nerve roots was performed. Anatomical fusion with the axial T2 sequences was used to provide correlating anatomical information. Mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured from tractography images and compared between groups. Diagnostic value was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to explore the correlation between DTI parameters and clinical data and the nerve conduction study (NCS) in the DPN group. Results: In the DPN group, FA was decreased (p < 0.001) and ADC was increased (p < 0.001) compared with the values of the HC group. FA displayed the best diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.716. ADC was positively correlated with HbA1c level (r = 0.379, p = 0.024) in the DPN group. Conclusions: DTI of lumbosacral nerve roots demonstrates appreciable diagnostic accuracy in patients with DPN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complete tumor response can be achieved in a certain proportion of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, who achieve maximal response to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). For these patients, a watch-and-wait (WW) or nonsurgical strategy has been proposed and is becoming widely practiced in order to avoid unnecessary surgical complications. Therefore, a non-invasive, reliable diagnostic tool for accurately evaluating complete tumor response is needed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a crucial role in both primary staging and restaging tumor response to NAT in rectal cancer without relying on resected specimen. In recent years, numerous efforts have been made to research the value of MRI in predicting and evaluating complete response in rectal cancer. Current MRI evaluation is mainly based on morphological and functional images. Morphologic MRI yields high soft tissue resolution, multiplanar images, and provides detailed depictions of rectal cancer and its surrounding structures. Functional MRI may help to distinguish residual tumor from fibrosis, therefore improving the diagnostic performance of morphologic MRI in identifying complete tumor response. Both morphologic and functional MRI have several promising parameters that may help accurately evaluate and/or predict complete response of rectal cancer. However, these parameters still have limitations and the results remain inconsistent. Recent development of new techniques, such as textural analysis, radiomics analysis and deep learning, demonstrate great potential based on MRI-derived parameters. This article aimed to review and help better understand the strengths, limitations, and future trends of these MRI-derived methods in evaluating complete response in rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients can benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), with some achieving a pathological complete response (pCR). However, there is limited research reporting on the value of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) in monitoring pCR in patients with LARC.Purpose: To identify whether IVIM parameters derived from whole-tumor volume (WTV) before and after NACT could accurately assess pCR in patients with LARC.Study Type: Prospective patient control study.Population: Fifty-one patients with LARC before and after NACT, prior to surgery.Field Strength/sequence: IVIM-diffusion imaging at 3T.Assessment: Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), slow diffusion coefficient (D), fast diffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion-related diffusion fraction (f) values were obtained on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images (DW-MRI) using WTV methods and calculated using a biexponential model before and after NACT.Statistical Tests: DWI-derived ADC and IVIM-derived parameters and their percentage changes (ΔADC%, ΔD%, ΔD*%, and Δf%) were compared using independent-samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test between the pCR and non-pCR groups. The diagnostic performance of IVIM parameters and their percentage changes were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curves.Results: Compared with the non-pCR group, the pCR group exhibited significantly lower pre-ADCmean (P = 0.003) and pre-D values (P = 0.024), and significantly higher post-f (P = 0.002), ΔADCmean % (P = 0.002), ΔD% (P = 0.001), and Δf% values (P = 0.017). Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that the pre-D value had the best specificity (95.12%) and accuracy (86.27%) in predicting the pCR status, and ΔD% had the highest area under the curve (0.832) in assessing the pCR response to NACT.Data Conclusions: The IVIM-derived D value is a promising tool in predicting the pCR status before therapy. The percentage changes in D values after therapy may help assess the pCR status prior to surgery.Level Of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To assess the sensitivity and specificity of detecting subarticular bone erosion of sacroiliac (SI) joint in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) using MRI three-dimensional water selective balanced steady-state free precession sequence (3D-WS-bSSFP) and T1-weighted (T1W) sequence. Materials and methods Radiography, CT and MRI of SI joint from 43 SpA patients were retrospectively analyzed. MRI examination sequences include T1W, short tau inversion recovery (STIR) and 3D-WS-bSSFP. Two radiologists, blinded to clinical data, independently determined bone erosion at bilateral sacral and iliac sides of the SI joint on radiography, CT, T1W and 3D-WS-bSSFP respectively. X 2 test was used to compare the sensitivity of detecting bone erosion among different diagnostic methods. Results Of the 86 sacral and 86 iliac articular surfaces from the 43 cases, radiography, CT, MRI T1W and 3D-WS-bSSFP showed the presence of bone erosion in 40, 74, 50 and 71 articular surfaces respectively. CT and MRI 3D-WS-bSSFP demonstrated similar sensitivity ( x 2 = 0.11, P = 0.74), and both were superior to radiography ( x 2 = 15.17, P < 0.01 and x 2 = 12.78, P < 0.01, respectively) and T1W ( x 2 = 7.26, P < 0.01 and x 2 = 5.62, P < 0.05). Using CT diagnosis as the gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of detecting bone erosion for MRI 3D-WS-bSSFP and T1W sequences were 91.8%, 96.9%, and 60.8%, 94.9% respectively. Conclusion MRI 3D-WS-bSSFP sequence is associated with short scanning time, zero ionizing radiation, high sensitivity and specificity of displaying the subarticular bone erosion of SI joints in patients with SpA. Therefore, it can be considered an alternative to CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]