ADC values in diffusion-weighted MRI and their relationship with age, gender and BMI in healthy people's pancreases

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to use diffusion-weighted MRI to assess the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in head, body and tail sections of the pancreas in healthy subjects and the relationships between these values and age, gender and body mass index (BMI) of these cases. Methods: This study was conducted on 82 participants who were referred to the Tabesh Medical Imaging Center, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran, during 2013. Echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging of the pancreas was carried out with b-values of 50, 400 and 800 smm(-2), and ADC values were assessed for the head, body and tail sections of the pancreas. Results: The ADC values for the head, body and tail sections of the pancreas in female participants were significantly greater than those in male subjects (p < 0.05). ADC values for these parts among subjects with different BMI differed significantly (p < 0.05). Regarding age, there were no statistically meaningful differences among the ADC values for the three parts (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Gender and BMI effect the ADC values of the three sections of the pancreas. Thus, knowledge of the basic values based on gender and BMI can improve diagnostics. Having looked at age factor, it seems that the ADC values were not significantly different. Advances in knowledge: According to the results pancreatic ADC values appear to be influenced by gender and BMI but not by age.