Clinical utility of apparent diffusion coefficient and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for resectability assessment of head and neck tumors with skull base invasion

Background The usefulness of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) in the detection of malignant tumors has been reported. The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of ADC and DWI for diagnosis of skull base tumors. Methods A total of 27 patients with head and neck tumors with skull base invasions undergoing skull base surgery were enrolled in this study. Pathological findings of dural invasion and bone invasion were compared with the diagnostic imaging. Results Advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques revealed that ADC values in regions of pathological bone and dural invasions were significantly lower than in regions of no invasion. The area under the curve of ADC in bone invasions and dural invasions were 0.957 and 0.894, respectively. Conclusions Our findings indicate that ADC and DWI are useful tools for the diagnosis of head and neck tumors with skull base invasion.