Relationship between number of teeth and apparent diffusion coefficient value of the tongue using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

抄録

Purpose : Previous studies have reported on the relationship between the tongue and number of teeth. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between the number of teeth and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the tongue using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between number of teeth and ADC values of the tongue using DWI.

Materials and Methods : We analyzed the ADC maps of 303 patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging between 2016 January and 2017 April. Student’s t-test was performed with the ADC value as the explanatory variable and sex as the criterion variable. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated using the ADC values of the tongue as the outcome variable and the number of teeth as predictor variables. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results : A significant negative correlation was found between ADC values of the tongue in males and females (p < 0.001, r = -0.38, and p < 0.001, r = -0.30, respectively). No significant differences were observed between the sexes and the ADC values of the tongue (p > 0.05).

Conclusions : Tooth loss increased tongue ADC values. DWI may be useful for evaluating the effect of tooth number on the tongue.