Discrimination between glioma grades II and III in suspected low-grade gliomas using dynamic contrast-enhanced and

Anna Falk1, Markus Fahlström, Egill Rostrup

  • 1Department of Radiology, Oncology and Radiation Science, Section of Radiology, Uppsala University, BFC Akademiska sjukhuset, SE 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden, aka03nfa@gmail.com.

Neuroradiology
|September 11, 2014
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Perfusion MRI parameters, specifically skewness of transfer constant (ktrans) from DCE and standard deviation of relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) from DSC, effectively differentiate grade II and III gliomas.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging
  • Oncology
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a valuable tool for pre-operative assessment of brain tumors.
  • Differentiating glioma grades is crucial for treatment planning and prognosis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify specific perfusion parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI that best distinguish between grade II and III gliomas.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study involving 39 patients with newly diagnosed suspected low-grade gliomas.
  • MRI (3 T) included morphological (T2 FLAIR, T1W+Gd) and perfusion (DCE, DSC) sequences.
  • Histogram analysis of perfusion parameters (ktrans, rCBF) was performed on regions of interest in 25 patients with confirmed grade II (n=18) and grade III (n=7) gliomas.

Main Results:

  • Skewness of transfer constant (ktrans) in DCE imaging showed high discriminatory power (AUC 0.76).
  • Standard deviation of relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in DSC imaging demonstrated superior differentiation (AUC 0.80).

Conclusions:

  • Histogram parameters derived from ktrans (DCE) and rCBF (DSC) are efficient in discriminating between grade II and grade III gliomas.
  • These perfusion parameters can aid in pre-operative grading of gliomas.

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