This study investigates age and gender differences of normative values of spleen diffusion MRI parameters.We recruited 124 volunteers with MRI conducted at 1.5T. Diffusion imaging had b-values of 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30, 46, 60, 72, 100, 150, 200, 400, 600 s/mm2. ADC, IVIM-Dslow, IVIM-PF, IVIM-Dfast, and DDVD (diffusion-derived vessel density) were computed. DDVD is the signal difference between the b=0 s/mm2 image and b=2, 4 s/mm2 image. Only images without apparent artifacts and with good curving fitting were included in the analysis. Finally, 34 females (age: 20–71 years) and 69 males (22–70 years) were measured with ADC; 20 females (20–71 years) and 48 males (22–67 years) were measured with IVIM; 32 females (20–71 years) and 65 males (22–70 years) were measured with DDVD parameter.An age-related decrease in ADC was noted for females, while such a trend was not noted for males. A very high level of heterogeneity was noted for the data for the males, with the highest ADC value being 1.710 × 10–3mm 2/s and the lowest ADC value being 0.705 × 10–3 mm2/s when b=0 and 600 s/mm 2 were used for ADC calculation. A male-female data comparison did not show a statistically significant difference between the ADC median value. However, ADCs > 1.3 × 10–3 mm2/s were only seen among males. A very high level of heterogeneity was also noted for males’ Dslow, with the highest value being 1.468 × 10–3 mm2/s and the lowest value being 0.600 × 10–3 mm2/s. Both PF and Dfast demonstrated a trend of age-related increase for older subjects. PF values were higher among males than females. However, no difference was noted for Dfast between males and females. DDVD did not show an age-related trend both for females and males. No difference was noted in DDVD values between males and females.Interpreting normal spleen diffusion MRI parameters should consider age and gender factors.
