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Diffusion-Weighted MR Microimaging of the Lacrimal Glands in Patients with Sjögren's Syndrome

Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology, Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to detect quantitative diffusion-weighted abnormalities in the lacrimal glands of patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. Diffusion-weighted MRI was performed on 31 healthy volunteers and 11 Sjögren's syndrome patients with impaired lacrimal function. The volunteers and patients underwent MRI with a single-shot spin-echo echo-planar technique using a 47-mm microscopy coil. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the lacrimal and parotid glands was obtained with b factors of 500 and 1,000 sec/mm². T1-weighted and fat-suppressed T2-weighted MR microscopic images were also obtained to evaluate the gland morphology and signals.

RESULTS. MR microscopy provided high-resolution images of the lacrimal glands that enabled ADC measurements. The ADCs of the normal lacrimal glands showed no significant sex- or age-related changes. The ADCs for the lacrimal glands were significantly higher than those of the parotid glands in the same subjects (mean ± SD, 891 ± 103 vs 703 ± 84 x 10^-6 mm²/sec, respectively; p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test). We found that ADCs of the lacrimal glands in Sjögren's syndrome patients were significantly lower than those from the normal glands of age-matched healthy volunteers (736 ± 34 vs 923 ± 84 x 10^-6 mm²/sec; p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U test).

CONCLUSION. These findings suggest that the measurement of ADCs may be a useful tool to assess abnormalities of the lacrimal glands in patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

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