T-staging of rectal cancer: Utility of single-shot turbo spin-echo diffusion-weighted imaging with T2-weighted images and fusion images
Fig 2
Stage T3 rectal carcinoma in a 69-year-old woman.
On the T2WI image (A) alone, intermediate intensity of tumor was shown beyond the muscularis propria (arrow). Higher image noise was seen on the TSE-DWI image (B) than on the EPI-DWI image (D), but this did not degrade the fusion image of TSE-DWI (C). On the fusion image of TSE-DWI (C), a colored area of diffusion restriction corresponded to the low intensity area on the T2WI-presenting tumor (arrow). On the fusion image of EPI-DWI (E), a colored area of diffusion restriction was depicted beyond the low intensity area on T2WI (arrow) due to distortion artifacts, but did not degrade the T-staging.