Evaluation of Low and High B-Values for the Differentiation Between Pancreatic Carcinoma and Chronic Pancreatitis Using Diffusion-Weighted Imaging

Miriam Klauss¹, Andreas Lemke², Katharina Grnberg², Moritz N. Wente³, Hans-Ulrich Kauczor¹, Stefan Delorme², Lars Grenacher¹, Bram Stieltjes²

We evaluated the value of different b-values to differentiate between pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis using DWI. Nineteen patients received DWI (b= 25-800s/mm2). Histopathologically, 13 had pancreatic carcinoma and 6 chronic pancreatitis. We measured the ADC within the lesions for all b-values. The difference in ADC was tested using a Mann-Whitney-U-Test. The results showed significant differences between the ADCs of pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis at low b-values (b=75, 100, 150 and 200). At higher b-values (>300), the differences did not reach significance. In conclusion, for the differentiation between pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis, low b-values outperform high b-values.