A multi-centre, web-accessible and quality control-checked database of in vivo MR spectra of brain tumour patients

To describe an Internet-accessible database that contains validated in vivo MR spectra and clinical data of brain tumour patients.

All data from patients entering the INTERPRET project (International Network for Pattern Recognition of Tumours Using Magnetic Resonance, ) were stored in a web-accessible database (iDB) and selected using its query functionality. Criteria for selection were that the case had a single voxel (SV) short-echo (20-32 ms) 1.5 T spectrum acquired from a nodular region of the tumour, that the voxel had been positioned in the same region as where subsequent biopsy was obtained, that the short-echo spectrum had not been discarded because of acquisition artefacts or other reasons, and that a histopathological diagnosis was agreed among a committee of neuropathologists. When the spectra were obtained from normal volunteers or were of abscesses or clinically proven metastases, biopsy was not required.

A subset of 304 cases (22 normal volunteers and 282 tumour patients) was obtained. These cases were migrated to another similar database (validated-DB).

The validated-DB complies with ethics regulations and represents the population studied. It is accessible by neuroradiologists willing to use information provided by MRS to help in the non-invasive diagnosis of brain tumours.