CT perfusion imaging of the stomach: a quantitative analysis according to different degrees of adenocarcinoma cell differentiation.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate clinical usefulness of computed tomography perfusion imaging (CTPI) in gastric cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty subjects without gastric diseases (control group) and fifty patients with gastric cancer were studied prospectively using CTPI examinations. Four perfusion parameter values, i.e., blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), mean transit time, and permeability surface (PS), were calculated. The gastric cancer group was divided into three groups: well differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma.

RESULTS: Comparing the three groups, differences between the well-differentiated group and the moderately differentiated group or the poorly differentiated group were all statistically significant for BF, BV, and PS.

CONCLUSION: The BF, BV, and PS values could serve as indicators of the degree of malignancy of gastric cancer.