Multiparametric MRI in primary cerebral lymphoma: Correlation between diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) and dynamic Susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI techniques.

Purpose: The aim of our study is to verify the reliability of Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI) parameters through correlation with perfusion metrics obtained by Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE)- and Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast (DSC)-MRI techniques in histologic-proven primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL).

Methods: A total of 15 lesions were analyzed in patient with neo-diagnosis of Epstein-Barr Virus negative PCNSL. DKI was acquired using 5b values from 0 to 2500 s/mm². DCE-MRI was acquired with a long scan time (up to 10 min) and with a temporal resolution of 5 s. DSC was acquired with a T2*-weighted sequence made up by 40 dynamic volumes, with a total scan time of 75 s. The correlation between the DCE- and DSC-MRI metrics and the DWI/DKI parameters was assessed with the Spearman's Rho correlation test. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A strong inverse relationship between D_app and K_ep (Rho = -0.56; p-value = 0.034) and between ADC and the K_ep (Rho = -0.52; p = 0.049) was found. A strong relationship emerged between K_app and relCBV (Rho = 0.62; p = 0.016). Even though a correlation has been detected between DKI and DWI parameters.

Conclusions: DKI seem to provide additional information compared to the standard diffusion model, this can be inferred from the results obtained through this study as DKI parameters correlates with both DCE and DSC parameters while ADC only correlates with K_ep and in a statistically less significant manner.