Abstract:

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the usefulness of non-invasive diagnostic methods, shear wave elastography (SWE), and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) to differentiate benign and malignant lesions in the thoracic pleural based masses by comparing them with histopathological findings. Materials and Methods: Sixty-three patients having a pleural-based peripheral mass on CT, admitted to the interventional radiology department for transthoracic biopsy, were included in the study. All patients underwent DWI, and ADC values of the groups were measured. Transthoracic biopsy was performed with the guidance of US from the area where the highest shear wave velocity (SWV) value was calculated. ADC and SWV values of histopathologically proven benign and malignant lesions were statistically compared. Results: Fifty-six patients were male, and seven were female. The mean age was 64.68±10.13 years (41-85 years). Fourty-four patients were malignant, and 19 were benign. The maximum SWV was found to be 4.13±0.59 m/s in malignant cases and 3.55±0.71 m/s in benign cases, and the difference was significant (p = 0.001). Mean ADC value was measured as 1.04±0.30 x 10-3 mm2/s in malignant cases and 1.32±0.33 x 10-3 mm2/s in benign cases on DWI and the difference was significant (p = 0.002). In malignant cases, the minimum ADC was 0.73±0.29 x 10-3 mm2/s, and 0.99±0.44 x 10-3 mm2/s in benign cases, the difference was significant (p = 0.024). ROC analysis revealed a cut-off value of ≥4.08 m/s for SWVmax, ≤1.01x10-3 mm2/s for mean ADC, and ≤0.8x10-3 mm2/s for minimum ADC showed a significant performance in distinguishing malignant and benign lesions. Conclusions: Transthoracic US elastography and DWI are useful in differentiating malignant and benign lesions in appropriate cases. Both SWE and DWI are useful in routine use because they are non-invasive and do not contain radiation. In particular, SWE is suitable for biopsy guidance and may prevent the possibility of insufficient material.

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