Department of Clinical Radiology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, University Campus, 45110, Ioannina, Greece.
Department of Medical Physics, Medical School, University of Ioannina, University Campus, 45110, Ioannina, Greece.
Eur J Radiol. 2017 Oct;95:265-270. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2017.08.037. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
To evaluate the feasibility of testis diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to determine normative apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values and to assess the efficacy of DTI in characterizing testicular pathology.
Fifty-six men underwent MRI of the scrotum, including DTI. Parametric and non-parametric statistical tests were used to compare the ADC and FA between the cranial, middle and lower thirds of normal testis and between the bilateral testicular thirds. Comparison between the ADC and FA of normal testis, malignant and benign testicular lesions was performed.
No significant differences of the ADC and FA in normal testis between the cranial, middle and lower thirds and between the bilateral testicular thirds were found. ADC was significantly lower in malignancies compared to normal testis (P=0.006) and benign testicular lesions (P=0.006). FA was significantly higher both in malignancies (P=0.001) and benign lesions (P<0.001) compared to normal testis. FA in malignancies did not differ from FA in benign lesions (P=0.221) CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the feasibility of testis DTI. Both ADC and FA significantly differ between testicular lesions and normal testis, although FA did not show an incremental diagnostic value compared to ADC in lesion differentiation.
评估睾丸弥散张量成像（DTI）的可行性，确定正常睾丸表观扩散系数（ADC）和各向异性分数（FA）值，并评估 DTI 在睾丸病变特征中的作用。
56 名男性接受了阴囊 MRI 检查，包括 DTI。使用参数和非参数统计检验比较正常睾丸的头、中、下段以及双侧睾丸的 ADC 和 FA。比较正常睾丸、恶性和良性睾丸病变的 ADC 和 FA。
正常睾丸的 ADC 和 FA 在头、中、下段以及双侧睾丸之间无显著差异。与正常睾丸（P=0.006）和良性睾丸病变（P=0.006）相比，恶性肿瘤的 ADC 明显降低。与正常睾丸相比，恶性肿瘤（P=0.001）和良性病变（P<0.001）的 FA 均明显升高。恶性肿瘤的 FA 与良性病变的 FA 无差异（P=0.221）。
本研究显示了睾丸 DTI 的可行性。ADC 和 FA 均在睾丸病变与正常睾丸之间有显著差异，但在病变鉴别方面，FA 与 ADC 相比并未显示出额外的诊断价值。
