A case of cervical spinal cord glioblastoma diagnosed with MR diffusion tensor and perfusion imaging

Intramedullary glioblastomas in adult patients have rarely been reported. We describe magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings, include findings on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) in a case of autopsy-confirmed glioblastoma in a 72-year-old man. Serial MR examinations, DTI and PWI, and positron emission tomography examinations were performed. The tumor involved the medulla oblongata and the upper cervical spinal cord. Traditional MR imaging findings were unclear with regard to the differential diagnosis between intramedullary glioma or a tumefactive demyelinating lesion, but an increase in regional cerebral blood volume and a decrease in fractional anisotropy of the lesion correctly suggested a high-grade glioma. MR PWI and DTI may prove helpful to diagnose glioblastoma of the cervical cord when other imaging features are inconclusive.