Tumor vascularity in the brain: evaluation with dynamic susceptibility-contrast MR imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of dynamic susceptibility-contrast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for diagnosis of intraaxial brain tumors.


METHODS
Ten patients with such tumors (two hemangioblastomas, five low-grade astrocytomas, and three glioblastomas) underwent examination at 1.5 T. After bolus injection of 0.15 mmol/kg gadopentetate dimeglumine, gradient-echo MR images were obtained every 3.6 seconds for 90 seconds. Region-of-interest analyses were performed in all tumors.


RESULTS
The greatest loss in signal intensity during the first pass of the contrast agent was seen in hemangioblastomas; low-grade astrocytomas had the least loss. The differences in integration of change in the T2* relaxation rate were significant among the three types of tumor (hemangioblastomas vs low-grade astrocytomas, P < .001; hemangioblastomas vs glioblastomas, P < .005; and glioblastomas vs low-grade astrocytomas, P < .02) and indicated differences in vascularity.


CONCLUSIONS
Dynamic susceptibility-contrast MR imaging can provide useful hemodynamic information about intraaxial brain tumors that is not provided by standard MR imaging and therefore contributes to the differential diagnosis.
Maeda
M
M
Department of Radiology, Fukui Medical School, Japan.
Itoh
S
S
Kimura
H
H
Iwasaki
T
T
Hayashi
N
N
Yamamoto
K
K
Ishii
Y
Y
Kubota
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000098:blood supply; D001810:Blood Volume; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply*; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply; D002648:Child; D003287:Contrast Media; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D005910:Glioma / Q000098:blood supply; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008536:Meglumine; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid
D003287:Contrast Media; D004338:Drug Combinations; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D008536:Meglumine; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA