الفهرس 
ANATOMY OF THE LIVEROnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
W MRI in the liver is a relatively new and increasingly used imaging technique. It has the advantage that it can be obtained during a single breath-hold, there is no need to use contrast media and it provides unique information that reflects tissue cellularity and organization.
Both qualitative evaluation of high b-value DW-MR images and quantitative evaluation of ADC maps are employed for lesion characterization. The ADC maps can be used not only for disease assessment, but also for the evaluation of disease response to treatment.
DWI is a particularly appealing method for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis because it is easy to implement and process, without the need for contrast agents. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) has been shown to be a promising marker of fibrosis and cirrhosis by several independent investigators.
Diffusion-weighted MRI sequence with quantitative ADC measurements can be useful in the differentiation of benign and malignant hepatic focal lesions.
The ADC values of benign lesions are significantly higher than those of malignant lesions, with variable degrees of overlap between the pathological entities.
DWI proved to be helpful in the characterization of focal liver lesions, but should always be used in conjunction with traditional MRI since there is great overlap between ADC values of benign and malignant lesions. It seems reasonable to use DWI in conjunction to conventional imaging.
DW-MRI has a role in the assessment of treatment response to minimally invasive therapy as it seems to be a potential non-invasive tool for measuring early functional tumor response to such therapy. . DWI should be incorporated in all studies directed to assessing diffuse and focal liver diseases for the benefit of the patients.