Diagnostic Value of WB-DWI Versus 18 F-FDG PET/CT for the Detection of Multiple Myeloma

Abstract

BACKGROUND Whole body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) is commonly used for the detection of multiple myeloma (MM). Comparative data on the efficiency of WB-DWI compared with 18 F positron emission tomography computed tomography ( 18 F-FDG PET/CT) to detect MM are lacking. METHODS This was a retrospective, single-center study of twenty-two patients with MM enrolled from January 2019 to December 2019. All patients underwent WB-DWI and 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Pathological and clinical manifestations as well as radiologic follow-up were used for diagnosis. The overall accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of both methods were compared. The appearance diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of MM lesions and false-positive lesions were estimated. RESULTS A total of 214 MM bone lesions were evaluated. WB-DWI showed a higher overall accuracy than PET/CT (75.7% and 55.6%, respectively; < 0.05). However, for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value, there were no significant differences for WB-DWI vs PET/CT (99.3% and 83.9%, 64.9% and 94.8%, 63.6% and 54.2%, 98.1% and 65.3%, respectively). The ADC value for MM lesions was significantly lower than that for false-positive lesions (p < 0.001). Receiver operating curve (ROC) curve analysis showed that the AUC was 0.846, and when the cut-off value was 0.745×10 -3 mm 2 /s, the sensitivity and specificity were 86.0% and 82.4%, respectively, which distinguished MM lesions from non-MM lesions. CONCLUSION WB-DWI may be a useful tool for the diagnosis of MM bone disease due to to higher overall accuracy and measurements of ADC values compared with PET/CT.