Correlation of MR imaging-determined cerebral blood volume maps with histologic and angiographic determination of vascularity of gliomas.

TLDR

The study aimed to determine whether the ratio of maximum relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) correlates with histologic and angiographic vascularity and can aid glioma grading. Using gradient‑echo echoplanar MR imaging, 30 histologically confirmed glioma patients were classified into glioblastoma, anaplastic glioma with or without enhancement, and low‑grade glioma, and their maximum rCBV ratios were measured. Maximum rCBV ratios were strongly correlated with both histologic and angiographic vascularity, with glioblastomas showing the highest ratios (≈7.3) and low‑grade gliomas the lowest (≈1.3), and glioblastomas differed significantly from anaplastic gliomas without enhancement and low‑grade gliomas.

Abstract

Our purpose was to evaluate the relationships between the ratio of maximum relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) (rCBV ratio = rCBV[tumor]/rCBV[contralateral white matter]) and histologic and angiographic vascularities of gliomas using the gradient-echo echoplanar MR imaging technique. We also evaluated the usefulness of rCBV maps for grading gliomas.We examined 30 patients with histologically verified gliomas. Gliomas were classified as glioblastoma, anaplastic glioma with enhancement, anaplastic glioma without enhancement, and low-grade glioma. The maximum rCBV ratio of each glioma was compared with both histologic and angiographic vascularities, and the relationship between the maximum rCBV ratios and each type of glioma was established.The maximum rCBV ratios of the gliomas significantly correlated with both histologic and angiographic vascularities (p < .001). Mean values and SDs of maximum rCBV ratios of each type of tumor were 7.32+/-4.39 for glioblastomas, 5.84+/-1.82 for anaplastic gliomas with enhancement, 1.53+/-0.75 for anaplastic gliomas without enhancement, and 1.26+/-0.55 for low-grade gliomas. The maximum rCBV ratios of the glioblastomas were significantly higher than those of the anaplastic gliomas without enhancement (p = .002) and the low-grade gliomas (p < .001). The maximum rCBV ratios of the anaplastic gliomas with enhancement were higher than those of the anaplastic gliomas without enhancement and the low-grade gliomas, but the differences were not statistically significant (p = .08 and p = .03, respectively).The results of perfusion-sensitive MR imaging with gradient-echo echoplanar technique correlated with both histologic and angiographic vascularities.