Abstract. Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are rare soft-tissue tumors of mesenchymal origin. Occasionally, these lesions have been indicated to associate with the salivary glands. Through the analysis of magnetic resonance imaging sequences, the present study reports a case of a solitary salivary gland lesion, demonstrating a well-circumscribed, soft-tissue tumor with marked signal changes and homogenous enhancement. SFT should be considered as a differential diagnosis when a solid mass exhibiting hypointensity on T1-weighted images and hyperintensity on T2-weighted images has been detected in the salivary gland. Due to the potentially malignant nature of SFTs, it is necessary for radiologists to improve their understanding of such lesions.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) is an established technique to detect the changes of the diffusion of water in biological tissues and reflect the pathophysiological process on the molecular level. It is a promising non-invasive imaging modality in detection of microstructural and functional changes in pathologies of kidney. To systematically review the research advancement of the DW-MRI in diagnosis of renal lesions, a systematic literature search was performed up to 8 October 2014 using the MEDLINE/PubMed and Embase databases for articles reporting on DW-MRI in diagnosis of renal lesions. Only articles with full data about DW-MRI application with potential implication in solving usually encountered clinical challenges about renal lesions were finally examined. The clinical application of DW-MRI allows a better understanding of some pathologic conditions of the kidney including renal insufficiency, renal artery stenosis, ureteral obstruction, foetal kidney disease, hydronephrosis and pyonephrosis. In addition, DW-MRI can also provide clinicians with the information of function evaluation of renal allograft and curative effect assessment of renal tumour. In summary, performance of renal DW-MRI, presuming that measurements are high quality, will further boost this modality, particularly for early detection of diffusion renal conditions, as well as more accurate characterization of renal lesions.