Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the normal human uterus in vivo at 3 tesla: Comparison of DTI parameters in the different uterine layers

Abstract

Purpose To investigate the differences in the fiber architecture and related diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters among different uterine layers of the normal human uterus in vivo at 3 Tesla (T). Materials and Methods DTI of the uterus was performed for nine healthy women of reproductive age on a 3T scanner. A volume of interest (VOI) was drawn for the outer myometrium (OM), junctional zone (JZ), and endometrium (EM). Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA), and maximum fiber length were compared using paired Student's t‐tests. Fibers were classified into four groups and were visually evaluated. Results ADC (×10−3 mm2/s) was highest for OM (1.12), followed by EM (0.97) and JZ (0.83) (OM versus JZ, P < 0.0001; JZ versus EM, P = 0.0001; OM versus EM, P = 0.0057). FA was highest for JZ (0.297), followed by OM (0.257) and EM (0.186) (OM versus JZ, P = 0.0002; JZ versus EM, P < 0.0001; OM versus EM, P < 0.0001). Fibers were longest in OM (42.0 mm), followed by JZ (34.2 mm) and EM (20.0 mm). Circularly oriented fibers were observed in 69% in OM and in 70% in JZ. Conclusion DTI of the uterus in vivo revealed layer‐wise differences in the microstructure of the uterus. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;38:1494–1500. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

3-T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of normal uterus in young and middle-aged females during the menstrual cycle: evaluation of the cyclic changes of fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values

“…FA values of the three zonal structures of the uterus showed significant difference at each phase during menstrual cycle. The relative order of FA values of these three layers in LP was the same as Fujimoto's studies, 14 reflecting the differences in the density of well-aligned fibre bundles. FA values of each layer in our study were smaller than those in previous studies, which might be explained by the different racial subjects as well as different MR scanners, image quality and ROI measurements in DTI.…”

“…Current published studies include ex vivo and in vivo studies. [11][12][13][14][15][16] In 2006, threedimensional fibre architecture of the normal human uterus based on DTI has been ex vivo evaluated in five samples by Weiss et al 11 Toba et al 12 ex vivo study showed that DTI might be a useful tool for the diagnosis of myometrial invasion of uterine endometrial cancer. However, fractional anisotropy (FA) value of a normal uterus has not been thoroughly investigated yet.…”

“…In 2012, Fiocchi et al 13 investigated the feasibility of depicting fibre architecture of the human uterus in vivo using 3-T MR-DTI based on 30 volunteers in different menstrual phases (MPs). In 2013, Fujimoto et al 14 compared the DTI parameters in the different uterine layers of nine subjects in vivo, but limited their study group to the luteal phase (LP) only. A more comprehensive study based on 11 normal young females was reported by Kido et al; 15 however, only apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value changes were evaluated during three phases of menstrual cycle.…”

Quantification of elasticity changes in the myometrium during labor using Supersonic Shear Imaging: A feasibility study

“…1. These values reflect the spatial variation of the shear wave speed and the standard error of the shear wave speed measurement [15] and could be associated with the anisotropy of the uterus [19,18]. While in this study, the probe was positioned in a single position, SSI can be used to assess tissue anisotropy by tilting the probe with different angles around a symmetry axis during contraction as described by Lee et al [23].…”

Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Uterine Zones Related to the Menstrual Cycle and Menopausal Status at 3 Tesla MRI

“…Diffusion tensor imaging is the best method to evaluate the anisotropic properties of solid organs, and it, unlike DWI, permits the analysis of diffusion along multiple directions. Recently, the improvement of this technique made it a useful and complementary sequence to conventional imaging techniques for demonstrating the fiber structures of the uterus (4,8,(10)(11)(12)(13).…”