Objective  To analyze the value of magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) combined with perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) in predicting the final infarct volume of tumor-like cerebral infarction.

  Methods  DWI and PWI of 31 patients with tumor-like cerebral infarction confirmed by tracking magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were retrospectively analyzed. The indexes such as relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), relative mean transit time (rMTT) and relative apparent diffusion coefficient (rADC) of infarction center, prediction error area and ischemic penumbra were measured and calculated, and the differences between predicted infarction center volume and actual infarction center volume were compared.

  Results  Tukey post-event efficacy test showed that there were significant differences in rCBF and rCBV between final infarction, predicted error area and ischemic penumbra (P < 0.01), and there was a significant difference in rADC between final infarction and ischemic penumbra (P < 0.01). PWI was more sensitive than DWI in predicting irreversible injury of tumor-like cerebral infarction, and sensitivity of rCBF was the highest. Tracking MRI showed that there were 27 cases with hemorrhagic transformation (HT) and hemosiderosis (87.10%). The mean final infarction volume was (20.8±11.9) cm³, which was significantly lower than (25.9±10.6) cm³ of predicted infarction volume (t=7.682, P < 0.001). Correlation test showed that thefinal infarction volume was positively correlated with the predicted infarction volume (r=0.953, P < 0.001).

  Conclusion  The final infarction volume of tumor-like cerebral infarction is smaller than the predicted infarction volume, which may be related to the high incidence of HT or reperfusion. The sensitivity of rCBF is the highest when DWI and PWI are used to predict irreversible damage.