Aims:The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of MRI based diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) for characterizing breast lesions in Indian patients.Materials and Methods:This prospective analysis was performed between October 2006 and June 2008. It includes 200 patients between the ages of 16 and 80 years with solid breast lesions greater than 1 cm in diameter. Of these 200 patients, 80 underwent breast MRI with contrast and DWI. One hundred and twenty patients had only DWI as they had come only for sonomammography. A total of 280 lesions were detected. ADC values were calculated for all the lesions and the highest and lowest values of ADC for benign and malignant lesions were identified. Finally, we compared our findings with those of previous studies.Results:Two hundred and eight lesions were categorized as benign and 72 lesions were categorized as malignant based on the ADC values. Based on previous data, lesions with ADC values from 1.3 to 1.5 mm2/s were considered benign where as lesions with ADC values ranging between 0.85 and 1.1 mm2/s were considered malignant. Two lesions whose ADC values were in the benign range were proven to be malignant tumors after surgery. This method of using ADC values for the detection of malignant lesions showed a sensitivity of 97.22% and a specificity of 100%. The positive predictive value was 100%.Conclusion:DWI is a useful technique for characterizing breast tumors, especially for lesions that cannot be adequately characterized by ultrasonography and routine magnetic resonance imaging.

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a common cause of morbidity in many developing countries and a common cause of seizure disorder in children and adults. The 4 stages of NCC are vesicular, vesicular colloidal, granular nodular, and nodular calcified.1 The appearance on MR imaging would depend on the stage of the disease. Most commonly, NCC presents as isohypointense lesions on T1-weighted MR imaging. To our knowledge, extensive hyperintense signals on T1-weighted images have not been described for NCC. A young man 22 years of age presented with headache on and off for 5-6 months. There was no history of seizures, which was also very unusual in his case. Plain and contrast MR imaging of the brain was performed. T1-weighted images revealed multiple hyperintense foci of varying sizes, in bilateral cerebral, cerebellar hemispheres and the brain stem (Fig 1). The T1 hyperintense signals were thicker in the right cerebellar hemisphere (Fig 2). Multiple other lesions were revealed on gradient images, which were not demonstrated on routine MR images. These multiple extensive T1 hyperintense signals were confirmed to be calcifications on CT, which was performed subsequent to the MR imaging. Few of the T1 hyperintense lesions showed mild enhancement on contrast administration.The MR imaging appearance and contrast characteristics would depend on the stage of the parasitic cyst. The unusual appearance of such extensive T1 hyperintense signals, as seen in our patient, has not been described earlier and is probably due to calcifications, which are known to appear hyperintense on T1-weighted MR imaging.

Tissue diagnosis is essential for effective management of bone and soft tissue lesions. In this regard pathologist plays a crucial role in patient management by giving appropriate diagnosis. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of core needle biopsies (CNB) by comparing with excised specimens, and to calculate the specificity (sp), sensitivity (sn), positive predictive value (ppv) and negative predictive value (npv) of CNB, and to study the complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all the bone and soft tissue tumor cases (60 cases, 50 bone and 10 soft tissue cases). Core needle biopsies (CNB) were performed in all cases at our institute, using a Jamshidi needle for bone lesions and tru-cut needle for soft tissue lesions between March 2010 and February 2014. Biopsy accuracy and errors were determined on the basis of histopathological examination of the excised specimens. RESULTS: Of the sixty CNBs done at our institute, we had 32 benign (30 bone & 2 soft tissue) and 28 malignant (20 bone & 8 soft tissue) cases. On correlating with excised specimens CNB reports were diagnostic and accurate in 58 cases (96%). Two false negative cases (major errors, 8% and 0% minor errors) reported. The sp, sn, ppv, and npv were calculated for benign and malignant lesions. No complications were seen with CNB. CONCLUSION: The present study indicates that core needle biopsy is safe and reliable for diagnosing the bone and soft tissue lesions.