Histogram analysis of apparent diffusion coefficients for predicting pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with uterine cervical cancer
To investigate the value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis in predicting pelvic lymph node (LN) metastasis in patients with cervical cancer undergoing surgery. A total of 162 cervical cancer patients who underwent radical abdominal hysterectomy with pelvic LN dissection performed with pelvic 3 T-MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging were enrolled in this study. The ADC histogram variables (minimum, mean, median, 97.5th percentile [ADC Pelvic LN metastasis was identified histopathologically in 50 patients (30.9%). In patients with LN metastasis, all ADC histogram variables were significantly different from those without LN metastasis (all p < 0.01). Univariate analysis demonstrated that long- and short-axis diameter of LN, MRI T-stage, squamous cell carcinoma antigen, tumor size, and the ADC The ADC