Whole-Body Diffusion-Weighted MRI Compared to 18 FFDG PET/CT in Initial Staging and Therapy Response Assessment of Hodgkin Lymphoma in Pediatric Patients

The aim of our study was to compare whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI-MRI) to fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in the assessment of initial staging and treatment response in pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

This prospective study comprised 11 children with Hodgkin lymphoma. Whole-body DWI-MRI and FDG-PET/CT were obtained at baseline and after 2 cycles of chemotherapy. Two radiologists measured the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the sites of involvement agreed upon in consensus and 1 nuclear medicine physician assessed the PET/CT. Reliability of radiologists’ ratings was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC_2,1). The sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of DW-MRI relative to PET/CT were calculated for nodal and extranodal sites. The patients were staged according to both modalities. Association of treatment responses was assessed through the Pearson correlation between the ADC ratios and the change standardized uptake value (SUV) between baseline and follow-up.

There was good agreement between the raters for nodal and extranodal ADC measurements. The sensitivity and PPV of DW-MRI relative to PET/CT of nodal disease was 0.651 and 1.0, respectively, at baseline, and 0.697 and 0.885 at follow-up. The sensitivity and PPV of extranodal disease were 0.545 and 0.6 at baseline, and 0.167 and 0.333 at follow-up. Diffusion-weighted MRI determined correct tumor stage in 8 of 11 examinations. There was poor correlation between the ADC ratios and the absolute change in SUV between baseline and follow-up (0.348).

Our experience showed that WB-DWI-MRI is inferior to PET/CT for initial staging and assessment of treatment response of Hodgkin lymphoma in pediatric patients.