Can diffusion-weighted whole-body MRI replace contrast-enhanced CT for initial staging of Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents?

BACKGROUND

Although positron emission tomography with 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG-PET/CT) has been recommended as the method of choice for lymphoma staging, it has limited availability in several countries, therefore, studies comparing whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to conventional staging methods or to FDG-PET/CT are an important tool to establish whole-body MRI as an alternative to these methods.

OBJECTIVE

To compare whole-body MRI versus conventional imaging methods for staging of Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included 22 patients ages 5 to 21 years. Staging was performed using conventional imaging methods and whole-body MRI. Conventional imaging methods were defined as computed tomography (CT) of the neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis and ultrasonography of the neck and/or abdomen. We calculated the sensitivity of these methods for Hodgkin lymphoma staging and their sensitivity and specificity for detecting sites of nodal and extranodal involvement.

RESULTS

The sensitivity of whole-body MRI for Hodgkin lymphoma staging was superior to that of conventional imaging methods (95.5% vs. 86.4%, respectively), but both methods had similar sensitivity and specificity for detecting involvement of nodal sites (99.1% and 100% vs. 97.3% and 100%, respectively) and extranodal sites (90.5% and 98.7% vs. 90.5% and 99.4%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Whole-body MRI has excellent sensitivity for staging of Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents. It can thus be considered an alternative for this purpose, particularly because it does not expose patients to ionizing radiation.