Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Solid Ovarian Masses: Is it Useful to Differentiate Benign From Malignant?

Purpose: To research whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of solid ovarian masses are beneficial for differentiation between benign and malignant. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 50 patients with 62 solid ovarian masses retrospectively. We divided the ovarian masses into two groups as benign and malignant. Thirteen patients with 13 solid ovarian masses were identified to have benign masses, while 37 patients with 49 solid ovarian masses were diagnosed with malignancy. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for the comparisons of the sizes and the ADC values of solid ovarian mass. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analyzed to determine a cutoff value for ADC to differentiate benign from malignant. Results: No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of age (p=0.06), whole lesion size (p= 0.647), and solid component size (p=0.066). ADC values of the two groups were significantly different (p=0.015). Malignant solid ovarian lesions showed significantly lower ADC values than benign lesions. The ROC curves showed an area under the curve rate of 0.722 and a cutoff value of 886 x 10-6 mm2/s. Conclusion: Diffusion-weighted imaging is a useful method for differential diagnosis of solid ovarian masses. Lower ADC values of solid ovarian lesions indicate malignancy rather than benign lesions.