摘要
Background Several previous studies have shown that diffusion-weighted imaging （DWl） can provide additional information for focal pancreatic lesions by demonstrating more restricted diffusion in solid malignant tumors than in chronic pancreatitis, which can be indicated by a decreased apparent diffusion coefficient （ADC）. However, these studies have a modest sample size and convey inconclusive results. The aim of this study was to determine, in a meta-analysis, the diagnostic performance of quantitative diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in distinguishing pancreatic carcinoma from mass-forming chronic pancreatitis. Methods We determined the sensitivities and specificities across studies. A summary receiver operator characteristic （sROC） curve was constructed to calculate the area under the curve （AUC）. Results The pooled sensitivity of DWI was 0.86 （95% Cl： 0.80-0.91） and the pooled specificity was 0.82 （95% CI： 0.72- 0.89）. The AUC of the sROC was 0.91 （95% CI： 0.88-0.93）. Conclusions DWl may be a potentially technically feasible tool for differentiating pancreatic carcinoma from mass- forming chronic pancreatitis. However, large-scale randomized control trials are necessary to assess its clinical value.
Background Several previous studies have shown that diffusion-weighted imaging （DWl） can provide additional information for focal pancreatic lesions by demonstrating more restricted diffusion in solid malignant tumors than in chronic pancreatitis, which can be indicated by a decreased apparent diffusion coefficient （ADC）. However, these studies have a modest sample size and convey inconclusive results. The aim of this study was to determine, in a meta-analysis, the diagnostic performance of quantitative diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in distinguishing pancreatic carcinoma from mass-forming chronic pancreatitis. Methods We determined the sensitivities and specificities across studies. A summary receiver operator characteristic （sROC） curve was constructed to calculate the area under the curve （AUC）. Results The pooled sensitivity of DWI was 0.86 （95% Cl： 0.80-0.91） and the pooled specificity was 0.82 （95% CI： 0.72- 0.89）. The AUC of the sROC was 0.91 （95% CI： 0.88-0.93）. Conclusions DWl may be a potentially technically feasible tool for differentiating pancreatic carcinoma from mass- forming chronic pancreatitis. However, large-scale randomized control trials are necessary to assess its clinical value.
