Objective:

To evaluate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-assisted magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatog

raphy (MRCP) in diagnosis of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHCC).

Methods:

From Feb. 2015 to Mar. 2017

45 patients with suspected EHCC were diagnosed and treated in Yibin Second Peoples Hospital. The pathological features and clinical value of DWI combined with auxiliary pancreaticobiliary hydrocephalus in the diagnosis of EHCC were analyzed.

Results:

The histopathological findings of 45 patients with EHCC were 30 patients with EHCC (66.67%)

5 patients (11.11%) with cholangitis

and 10 patients (22.22%) with bile duct stones. At low b values

the images of DWI patients with EHCC had lower signal or slightly hyperintensity. DWI performance was similar to conventional fat-suppressed T2 images. And at

b

=1 000/1 200 s/mm

2

DWI was significantly higher in EHCC patients

and ADC images showed low signal. Compared with

b

=500 s/mm

2

with the increase of b value

the ADC value

signal to noise ratio (SNR) value and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) value of EHCC tumors decreased significantly

while the signal intensity ratio (SIR) value increased significantly (

P

＜0.05). The diagnostic sensitivity of DWI-assisted MRCP (

b

=1 000/1 200 s/mm

2

) was 93.33 %; the specificity was 100.00%; the accuracy rate was 95.56%; the positive predictive value was 100.00%; the negative predictive value was 88.24%. All was significantly higher than the results of MRCP diagnosis alone (

P

＜0.05).

Conclusion:

DWI-assisted MRCP can effectively identify and diagnose EHCC

and the high b value in the diagnosis ofEHCC patients has higher clinical value

with higher sensitivity

specificity and accuracy

worthy of clinical application.