Peripheral nerve tractography in soft tissue tumors: A preliminary 3‐tesla diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) study aimed to clarify the relationship of peripheral nerves and soft tissue tumors (STTs) in 3D to optimize subsequent treatment. METHODS: Twenty-six consecutive STT patients (histologically malignant, n=10; intermediate, n=3; and benign, n=13) underwent 3-Tesla MRI using an echoplanar DTI sequence. Deterministic tractography was performed. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values were measured within peritumoral and distant regions of interest. RESULTS: Tractography depicted the 3D course of the sciatic (n=12), femoral (n=2), tibial (n=7), fibular (n=2), median (n=1), musculocutaneous (n=1), and ulnar (n=1) nerves in a regular (n=8 of 18, 44.4%) or thinned (n=7 of 18, 38.9%) fashion. The lowest peritumoral FA values, abrupt thinning, and/or complete discontinuity of trajectories were found in 2 cases with histologically proven tumoral nerve infiltration. CONCLUSIONS: DTI clarifies the 3D topography between major peripheral nerves and STTs and may be helpful in the assessment of peripheral nerve infiltration by malignant tumors.