Intracranial meningiomas: high-field MR imaging

Area of Science:

• Neuroradiology
• Neuro-oncology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Intracranial meningiomas are common primary tumors of the central nervous system.
• Accurate preoperative assessment of meningiomas is crucial for surgical planning and patient management.
• Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a primary modality for evaluating brain tumors, but its specific utility in meningioma characterization requires detailed understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of 1.5 T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in characterizing intracranial meningiomas.
• To correlate MR imaging findings with computed tomography (CT), angiography, and histopathology.
• To determine the advantages of MR imaging over CT in depicting meningioma features.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-five patients with newly diagnosed intracranial meningiomas underwent 1.5 T MR imaging.
• MR imaging findings were compared with computed tomography (CT) and angiography results.
• Histopathological data served as the gold standard for tumor classification.

Main Results:

• Meningiomas typically appeared hypointense on T1-weighted and hyperintense on T2-weighted MR images relative to white matter.
• Heterogeneous tumor texture was common, reflecting vascularity, calcifications, or cystic changes.
• MR imaging demonstrated superiority over CT in defining extracerebral tumor location, vascularity, arterial encasement, and venous sinus invasion.

Conclusions:

• 1.5 T MR imaging provides detailed characterization of intracranial meningiomas, including their relationship with adjacent structures.
• MR imaging offers significant advantages over CT for assessing tumor extent and invasion.
• No direct correlation was observed between MR imaging appearance and specific pathological classifications of meningiomas.