Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging of the Brain
http://radiology.rsna.org/content/217/2/331.full

Pamela W. Schaefer, MD; P. Ellen Grant, MD; R. Gilberto Gonzalez, MD, PhD

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provides image contrast that is different from that provided by conventional MR techniques. It is particularly sensitive for detection of acute ischemic stroke and differentiation of acute stroke from other processes that manifest with sudden neurologic deficits. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging also provides adjunctive information for other cerebral diseases including neoplasms, intracranial infections, traumatic brain injury, and demyelinating processes. Because stroke is common and in the differential diagnosis of most acute neurologic events, diffusion-weighted MR imaging should be considered an essential sequence, and its use in most brain MR studies is recommended.

Diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provides potentially unique information on the viability of brain tissue. It provides image contrast that is dependent on the molecular motion of water, which may be substantially altered by disease. The method was introduced into clinical practice in the middle 1990s, but because of its demanding MR engineering requirements—primarily high-performance magnetic field gradients—it has only recently undergone widespread dissemination. The primary application of DW MR imaging has been in brain imaging, mainly because of its exquisite sensitivity to ischemic stroke—a common condition that appears in the differential diagnosis in virtually all patients who present with a neurologic complaint.