Dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion MR imaging in distinguishing malignant from benign head and neck tumors: A pilot study

Abstract Purpose To preliminarily investigate the utility of dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion MR imaging in distinguishing malignant from benign head and neck tumors. Material and methods Seventy eight patients with head and neck masses underwent single shot dynamic susceptibility contrast T2*-weighted perfusion weighted MR imaging after bolus infusion of gadolinium-DTPA was administrated. The signal intensity time curve of the lesion was created. Dynamic susceptibility contrast percentage (DSC%) was calculated and correlated with pathological findings. Results The mean DSC% of malignant tumor ( n  = 40) was 39.3 ± 9.6% and of benign lesions ( n  = 38) was 24.3 ± 10.3%. There was a statistically significant difference of the DSC% between benign and malignant tumors ( P  = 0.001) and within benign tumors ( P  = 0.001). When DSC% of 30.7% was used as a threshold for differentiating malignant from benign tumors, the best results were obtained: accuracy of 84.6%, sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 89.2%. Conclusion Dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion weighted MR imaging is a non-invasive imaging technique that can play a role in differentiation between malignant and benign head and neck tumors.