Early Assessing Tumor Response to Transarterial Chemoembolization by Diffusion-Weighted Imaging: Selection of the Optimal B Factor

Zhaoxia Jiang¹, Weijun Peng¹

Diffusion-weighted imaging has been used to monitor hepatic carcinoma response after therapy in many studies. However, there are considerable discrepancies in the selection of b values. In this study, we compared different b-value DWI in evaluation of hepatic tumor necrosis after TACE in rabbits to explore the optimal b value. Our results suggest that high b-value DWI was more sensitive for early detection of tumor necrosis. However, the image quality diminished with increasing b value especially on b2000 DWI. These results demonstrate an intermediate b value (ie, 1000s/mm2) may provide optimal visualization.