Endre Grvik1, Kjell-Inge Gjesdal2,
Kathinka Kurz Dhli3, Atle Bjrnerud4
1University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; 2Sunnmre
MR-klinikk, Aalesund, Norway; 3Stavanger University Hospital,
Stavanger, Norway; 4Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo,
Norway
This
study investigates the influence of spatial heterogeneity on the diagnostic
accuracy of DCE-MRI in breast tumor characterization. This is done by
comparing the lesions VOI 50th-percentile versus VOI 95th-percentile values
for a defined set of pharmacokinetic parameters, based on their ability for
differentiating between malignant and benign lesions. Our results suggest that a significant
improvement in diagnostic accuracy can be obtained by identifying the 5%
region indicating the highest malignancy in the defined tumor VOI.