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Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
Potential role of fractional anisotropy derived from diffusion tensor imaging in differentiating high-grade gliomas
Ruofei Liang1, Xiang Wang1, Mao Li1
1Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University Chengdu, P. R. China.
Background And Purpose:
It is crucial to accurately differentiate high-grade gliomas (HGGs) from low-grade gliomas (LGGs) preoperatively, as treatment strategies vary. So we performed a meta-analysis to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fractional anisotropy (FA) value derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in differentiating HGGs from LGGs.
Materials And Methods:
Between January 2005 and June 2014, relevant articles were searched from the Embase and Medline databases for analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using Meta-Disc 1.4.
Results:
A total of 221 patients included in the FA analysis: 127 with HGGs and 94 LGGs. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) for differentiating HGGs from LGGs were 93% (95% CI 0.87-0.97), 85% (95% CI 0.76-0.92), and 55.41 (95% CI 16.77-183.07), respectively. And computation of heterogeneity metrics revealed an acceptable level of the between-study heterogeneity of DOR (I(2)=30.9%).
Conclusions:
The results of our meta-analysis present that the FA derived from DTI act as a useful diagnostic marker could be used in distinguishing the HGGs from LGGs in the preoperative and the clinical application values are to be confirmed by further larger case-control studies.
