Purpose:
To evaluate the role of magnetic resonance (MRI) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurement of solid and cystic pulmonary masses in differentiating benign from malignant lesions.

Material and methods:
The study included 41 patients with pulmonary masses, who underwent conventional MRI and DWI (b value 0, 500, and 1000 s/mm²) examinations with 1.5-T MRI. The diffusion signal and the mean ADC values of the solid and cystic lesions were obtained. Statistical analyses were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test (z), Pearson’s chi-square test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Results:
Thirty-three lesions were malignant, and eight lesions were benign. The malignant masses showed significantly higher signal intensity on DWI than benign masses (p = 0.006), and the mean ADC value of malignant solid lesions was significantly lower than that of benign lesions (p = 0.02). By ROC analysis, an ADC cut-off value of 1.4 × 10–3 mm²/s was considered the threshold value, and the sensitivity and specificity were 93.8% and 75%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the ADC value of the cystic parts inside the benign and the malignant lesions.

Conclusions:
Diffusion-weighted MRI and measurement of ADC value can significantly differentiate between solid benign and malignant pulmonary masses.