The Role of Diffusion Weighted MR Imaging in the Diagnosis of Tendon Injuries of the Ankle and Foot

Abstract

Background and objectives: Our aim is to determine the diagnostic performance and utility of Diffusion Weighted MR Imaging (DWI) against the routine Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for the evaluation of patients with tendon injuries of the ankle and foot. Materials and Method: After institutional review board approval and informed consent taken from all the patients, ankle and foot MR imaging and DWI-Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) mapping were performed on the 81 injured tendons of 50 patients. All tendon injuries were named as Rupture (R), Partial tear (PT), and Tenosynovitis (T). Diagnostic interpretation was based on the MRI-DWI and ADC mapping, verified by either open surgery, diagnostic arthroscopy, or conservative procedures-splint application. Statistical analysis of this research was assessed by Fischer’s exact test, variance analysis test between dependent groups, Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve, and Pearson chi square statistics. Results: MRI depicted all tendon injuries with 70% sensitivity and 100% specificity, and showed a significant statistical relationship to surgical and arthroscopic references with high agreement (p p p Conclusions: DWI is a good imaging modality for the visualization of ankles with tendon injuries, possibly further improving the sensitivity of the classical ankle and foot MRI, and supplying more beneficial and diagnostic information than routine MR imaging on the basis of R, PT, and T of tendons at the ankle and foot.

Keywords

• diffusion weighted MRI
• diffusion MRI
• tendon injuries
• MRI
• ankle injuries