Characterizing Various Posterior Fossa Tumors in Children and Adults With Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and Spectroscopy

Background The posterior fossa is situated between the tentorium cerebelli above and the foramen magnum below. Vital structures like the cerebellum, the pons, and the medulla are situated within it; hence, tumors within the posterior fossa are considered one of the most critical brain lesions. Children are more likely to develop posterior fossa tumors than adults. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) sequences along with the conventional MRI help in providing additional information in the characterization of the various posterior fossa tumors. We hereby present a series of 30 patients with clinically suspected posterior fossa masses who underwent preoperative MRI. Objectives This study aims to differentiate the neoplastic from non-neoplastic posterior fossa mass by evaluating the diffusion restriction pattern on DWI, quantifying the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map in various posterior fossa tumors, and comparing the different metabolites of various posterior fossa tumors on MRS. Results Out of the 30 patients with posterior fossa lesions, 18 were males and 12 were females. Eight of them were in the pediatric age group, while twenty-two of them were adults. Metastasis was the most common posterior fossa lesion in our study sample and was found in six patients (20%), followed by vestibular schwannomas (17%) and arachnoid cysts (13%), meningiomas, medulloblastoma, and pilocytic astrocytoma (10% each) and epidermoid, ependymoma, and hemangioblastoma (7% each). The mean ADC value of benign tumors was higher than that of malignant tumors, and this difference was found to be significant (p = 0.012). The cut-off ADC value 1.21x 10^-3mm²/s had a sensitivity of 81.82% and specificity of 80.47%. MRS metabolites played an additional role in differentiating benign from malignant tumors. Conclusion A combination of conventional MRI, DWI, ADC values, and MRS metabolites showed good diagnostic accuracy to differentiate between the various posterior fossa neoplastic tumors both in adults and children.