Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Nov;24(11):2906-15.
doi: 10.1007/s00330-014-3302-y. Epub 2014 Jul 20.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging for the diagnosis of abscess complicating fistula-in-ano: preliminary experience

Anthony Dohan  1 , Clarisse Eveno, Raluca Oprea, Karine Pautrat, Vinciane Placé, Marc Pocard, Christine Hoeffel, Mourad Boudiaf, Philippe Soyer
Affiliations

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging for the diagnosis of abscess complicating fistula-in-ano: preliminary experience

Anthony Dohan et al. Eur Radiol. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the role of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWMRI) in the diagnosis of abscess-complicating fistula-in-ano.

Methods: This retrospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board and informed consent was waived. MRI examinations, including fat-suppressed T2-weighted turbo spin-echo (T2-TSE) MRI and DWMRI, of 24 patients with a fistula-in-ano, were reviewed by two independent readers for the presence and number of visible fistulas, conspicuity and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement of suspected fistula tracks and pelvic collections. The reference standard was surgical with follow-up findings.

Results: Sensitivity was 91.2 % [95 % CI: 76 %-98 %] for T2-weighted TSE MRI and 100 % [95 % CI: 90 %-100 %] for DWMRI detecting fistulas. ADC values were lower in abscesses than in inflammatory masses (P = 0.714.10(-6)). The area under the ROC curve was 0.971 and the optimal cut-off ADC value was 1.186 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s, yielding a sensitivity of 100 % [95 % CI: 77 %-100 %], a specificity of 90 % [95 % CI: 66 %-100 %], a positive predictive value of 93 % [95 % CI: 82.8 %-100 %] and a negative predictive value of 90 % [95 % CI: 78 %-100 %] for an abscess diagnosis. Fistula conspicuity was greater with DWMRI than with T2-TSE MRI for the two observers (P = 0.0034 and P = 0.0007).

Conclusion: DWMRI shows high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of perianal abscesses and helps discriminate between an abscess and inflammatory mass. Conspicuity of fistulas-in-ano is greater with DWMRI than with T2-weighted TSE MRI.

Key points: • DWMRI can differentiate between pelvic abscess and inflammatory mass. • DWMRI helps avoid gadolinium-chelate administration in patients with a suspected fistula-in-ano. • DWMRI provides high degrees of conspicuity for fistula-in-ano. • Conspicuity of fistulas is better with DWMRI imaging than with T2-TSE-weighted MRI.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Radiology. 2012 May;263(2):326-42 - PubMed
    1. Int J Nephrol. 2012;2012:912189 - PubMed
    1. Radiology. 2006 Apr;239(1):18-33 - PubMed
    1. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2011 Apr;17(4):984-93 - PubMed
    1. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2010 May;16(5):870-80 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources