A study on peritumoural brain oedema around meningiomas by CT and MRI scanning

There is a great variability in the amount of peritumoural brain oedema accompanying meningiomas. In a previous study it was found that the degree of brain oedema in the white matter around meningiomas correlated with disruption of the layers (especially the cerebral cortex), which separate the tumour from the white matter, as well as with the size and histological subtype of the tumour. In the present study comprising 9 meningiomas, the volume of oedema was calculated by integration of the cross-sectional oedematous areas on serial MRI slices. The volume of oedema was zero in 3 cases and ranged from 11 to 176.4 ml in the other 6 cases. The MRI-scans also showed disruption of the cortex in all cases, ranging from slight to severe. T1 and T2 measurements were made at the level of maximum extension, using a mixed sequence at a field strength of 1.5 T. From the T2 values tissue water content in % was calculated using the equations: WC = 39.36/(R2 + 37.2) for cortex, and WC = 29.63/(R2 + 27.8) for white matter. These had been obtained by correlating water content with relaxation rates, measured in vitro on human brain autopsy specimens which were subjected to hydration with distilled water or dehydration by hyperosmolar solutions. Mean water content amounted to 82.53% for normal cortex, 74.72% for normal white matter, and 84.59% for oedematous white matter around the tumour.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)