Texture analysis of conventional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging for distinguishing sinonasal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the value of texture analysis (TA) of conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the differential diagnosis between sinonasal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Methods: Forty-two patients with sinonasal SCC and 30 patients with NHL were retrospectively enrolled. TAs were performed on T2-weighted image (T2WI), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted image (T1WI). Texture parameters, including mean value, skewness, kurtosis, entropy and uniformity were obtained and compared between sinonasal SCC and NHL groups. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the diagnostic value and identify the independent TA parameters.

Results: The mean value and entropy of ADC, and mean value of contrast-enhanced T1WI were significantly lower in the sinonasal NHL group than those in the SCC group (all P < 0.05). ROC analysis indicated that the entropy of ADC had the best diagnostic performance (AUC 0.832; Sensitivity 0.95; Specificity 0.67; Cutoff value 6.522). Logistic regression analysis showed that the entropy of ADC (P = 0.002, OR = 26.990) was the independent parameter for differentiating sinonasal NHL from SCC.

Conclusion: TA parameters of conventional MRI and DWI, particularly the entropy value of ADC, might be useful in the differentiating diagnosis between sinonasal NHL and SCC.