Nonsuppressing normal thymus on chemical-shift MR imaging and anterior mediastinal lymphoma: differentiation with diffusion-weighted MR imaging by using the apparent diffusion coefficient.

objectivesTo prospectively evaluate usefulness of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in differentiating anterior mediastinal lymphoma from nonsuppressing normal thymus on chemical-shift MR, and to look at the relationship between patient age and ADC.

methodsSeventy-three young subjects (25 men, 48 women; age range, 9-29 years), who underwent chemical-shift MR and diffusion-weighted MR were divided into a normal thymus group (group A, 40 subjects), and a lymphoma group (group B, 33 patients). For group A, all subjects had normal thymus with no suppression on opposed-phase chemical-shift MR. Two readers measured the signal intensity index (SII) and ADC. Differences in SII and ADC between groups were tested using t-test. ADC was correlated with age using Pearson correlation coefficient.

resultsMean SII±standard deviation was 2.7±1.8% for group A and 2.2±2.4% for group B, with no significant difference between groups (P=.270). Mean ADC was 2.48±0.38x10

conclusionsADC of diffusion-weighted MR is a noninvasive and accurate parameter for differentiating lymphoma from nonsuppressing thymus on chemical-shift MR in young subjects. KEY POINTS: • SII cannot differentiate mediastinal lymphoma from nonsuppressing normal thymus at visual assessment • ADC is useful for distinguishing nonsuppressing normal thymus from mediastinal lymphoma • ADC is more accurate than transverse-diameter and surface-area in this discrimination • ADC of normal thymus is age dependent and increases with increasing age.