Purpose:To evaluate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions. Materials and Methods:Fifty-two female subjects (mean age ϭ 58 years, age range ϭ 25-75 years) with histopathologically proven breast lesions underwent DWI of the breasts with a single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence using large b values. The computed mean apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) of the breast lesions and cell density were then correlated. Results:The ADCs varied substantially between benign breast lesions ((1.57 Ϯ 0.23) ϫ 10 -3 mm 2 /second) and malignant breast lesions ((0.97 Ϯ 0.20) ϫ 10 -3 mm 2 /second). In addition, the mean ADCs of the breast lesions correlated well with tumor cellularity (P Ͻ 0.01, r ϭ -0.542). Conclusion:The ADC would be an effective parameter in distinguishing between malignant and benign breast lesions. Further, tumor cellularity has a significant influence on the ADCs obtained in both benign and malignant breast tumors.

This study revealed significant differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic plaques in the same patient.

Objective-Ethnicity-based research may identify new clues to the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic disease. Therefore, we sought to determine whether carotid lesions differ between 20 Chinese and 20 Caucasian Americans by MRI. Methods and Results-Inclusion criteria were Ͼ50% stenosis as measured by duplex ultrasound and recent symptoms attributed to carotid artery disease. The patients were imaged in 2 centers (Beijing, China and Seattle, Wash) using a standardized protocol. Both carotid arteries were reviewed quantitatively (lumen, wall, outer wall, tissue components) and morphologically (lesion types, fibrous cap status). Significant differences between the Chinese and Americans were found for the mean size of the lipid/necrotic core (13.6 versus 7.