Diffusion Weighted Imaging Of Bone Marrow In Acute Leukemia Patients

Objectives To explore the effect of DWI of the diagnosis value in acute leukemia, We described the ADC (apparent diffusion coeffecient) of the bone marrow in lumber vertebra of the acute leukemia patients with 1.5 Tesla MR scanner;and correlated the variation of the S/I ADC with the blast cell propotion in the bone marrow.Methods Choose 45 acute leukemia patients, and choose 15 healthy volunteers as control subjects. All subjects were examined with GE Signa Excite 1.5 using 8 channels body coil. DWI were acquired with single-shot-echo-plannar (SS-EPI) sequence,b value equal to 650 s/mm2, with 3 direction, S/I, A/P, R/L. we received ADC map using functool software processing DWI images on 4.3 offered by GE company. Group comparisons of S/I ADC between different groups were based on independent samples t-test; relationships between S/I ADC and the blast cell propotion in the bone marrow in each group were examined by calculating Pearson correlations.Results1.The difference among the ADC in 3 direction was not statistically significant.2.There were significant differences in the S/I ADC from the volunteers and the patients who had not received any therapies, the patients who had received therapies or not. There were neither significant differences in the S/I ADC from the groups of patients of CR and not CR, nor from the CR patients of ALL and AML.3.The S/I ADC value of the patients who had not received any therapies and who got CR at the first time, showed significant negative correlation with the blast cell propotion in the bone marrow.Conclusions The diffusion ability of bone marrow in acute leukemia mainly comes from the diffusion of water proton the extracellular space. The ADC value can be a non-invasive and quantifiable tool for the diagnosis of the acute leukemia and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the therapy.