Image analysis of neuroblastomas-discrimination of prognostic patterns

In a series of 52 neuroblastomas with a three-year follow-up textural analysis by means of sequential transformation of the image enabled us to establish a prognostic stratification of the cases taking the value of the specific area at the tenth closure as a discriminant of the grade of differentiation. The curves obtained plotting the closing function mainly yield information on the size distribution and characteristics of the intercellular stroma, which largely corresponds to the neurofibrillar set. The correlation between the specific area at the tenth closure and the age of the children prompt us to consider two different trends in neuroblastomas, those which invariably lead to death and whose grade of differentiation bears no correlation with the outcome, and those which undergo spontaneous or treatment-induced regression, and whose maturity has a linear relationship with the age of the child at diagnosis.