This is a retrospective study of 100 magnetic resonance imaging data sets from AIS patients. ADC values were measured in the infarct, penumbra, and normal regions. Three hundred measurements underwent 1-way analysis of variance, analysis of means, and calculation of 95% and 84% CIs.
There was a statistically significant difference at the P level less than .025 in ADC values for the 3 regions (F[2, 297] = 168.039, P ≤ .001), with no overlap of the CIs for the means among the regions: normal brain (mean [M] = .847, standard deviation [SD] = .103, 95% CI: .825-.866), infarct (M = .533, SD = .157, 95% CI: .501-.563), and penumbra (M = .764, SD = .110, 95% CI: .740-.787).
ADC values might be used as reference data in acute stroke-specific populations; CIs would provide radiologists and clinicians with additional quantitative tools to evaluate penumbra, infarct, and normal brain tissue and to tailor follow-up and treatment options for selected patients.