(1)H-MRS metabolic patterns for distinguishing between meningiomas and other brain tumors

Yet meningiomas have characteristic neuroimaging features, some other lesions are still confusing with meningiomas. The aim of this study was trying to find the typical (1)H-MRS metabolic factors of histologic subtyped meningiomas, schwannomas, metastases, and other brain tumors for differential diagnosis among them. (1)H-MRS using STEAM (TE/30 ms, TR/2 sec) and PRESS (TE/288 ms, TR/2 sec) sequences were performed on 44 untreated brain tumors. Obtained metabolic patterns from the typical spectra of meningioma, schwannoma, metastasis were compared with each other or other brain tumors to evaluate the usefulness for diagnosis between them. Alanine(Ala) was observed in 15 cases of the 19 meningiomas with a little variation to three histologic subtypes, while minimal lipids were observed in every 19 meningiomas. Elevated glutamate/glutamine(Glx) was detected in 12 cases of the meniningiomas. Increased myo-inositol(mI) was detected in 11 cases of the 13 schwannomas. Dominant lipids signals as well as long-T2 lipids were detected in every metastasis in conjunction with elevated choline (Cho). Enhanced Glx was observed in 4 cases of the 8 metastases without correlation of primary tumor site or types. Hemangiopericytoma showed different spectral patterns from typical meningiomas: only dominant Cho, minimal lipids and absence of Ala or Glx signals. These metabolic patterns in typical tumors may provide a basis for differential diagnosis (average value of chi(2) = 23.33, p < 0.01) between meningiomas and schwannomas as well as metastases. However proton spectral distinction among the different histologic subtypes of meningiomas was not definite.