Comparison of computed tomography histogram analysis and chemical-shift magnetic resonance imaging for adrenal mass characterization

Abstract

CT histogram analysis method using a 10% negative pixel threshold on unenhanced CT had a good sensitivity and perfect specificity for the differentiation of adrenal adenomas from non-adenomas. In spite of the good results obtained with the CT histogram analysis method, chemical-shift MRI using adrenal-to-spleen chemical-shift ratio and adrenal signal intensity index formulas had a higher sensitivity and could help in the characterization of adrenal masses appearing indeterminate by CT histogram analysis.