MRI based texture analysis to classify low grade gliomas into astrocytoma and 1p/19q codeleted oligodendroglioma

Texture analysis performed on MR images can detect quantitative features that are imperceptible to human visual assessment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of texture analysis on preoperative conventional MRI to discriminate between histological subtypes in low-grade gliomas (LGGs), and to determine the utility of texture analysis compared to histogram analysis alone.

A total of 41 patients with LGG, 21 astrocytoma and 20 1p/19q codeleted oligodendroglioma were included in this study. Patients were randomly divided into training (60%) and testing (40%) sets. Texture analysis was performed on conventional MRI sequences to obtain the most discriminant factor (MDF) values for both the training and testing data. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were then performed using the MDF values and 9 histogram parameters in the training data to obtain cut-off values for determining the correct rate of discriminating between astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma in the testing data.

The ROC analyses using MDF values resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.91 (sensitivity 86%, specificity 87%) for T2w FLAIR, 0.94 (87%, 89%) for ADC, 0.98 (93%, 95%) for T1w, and 0.88 (78%, 86%) for T1w + Gd sequences. Using the best cut-off values, MDF correctly discriminated between the two groups in 94%, 82%, 100%, and 88% of cases in the testing data, respectively. The MDF outperformed all 9 of the histogram parameters.

Texture analysis performed on conventional preoperative MRI images can accurately predict histological subtype of LGGs, which would have an impact on clinical management.