title: [Contribution of magnetic resonance spectrometry to the diagnosis of intracranial tumors].
abstract: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a method enabling the analysis of the tissue metabolic content. It may offer a more accurate diagnosis of the intracranial tumors than conventional MRI sequences. MRS of normal brain parenchyma displays 4 main metabolites: N-acetyl aspartate (neuronal marker), creatine (cellular density marker), choline (membrane activity marker) and myoinositol (glial marker); pathological processes lead to variations of the level of these metabolites and/or the appearance of abnormal metabolites (lactate), following different patterns according to pathological process involved: glioma, meningioma, metastasis, bacterial or toxoplasmic abscess, radionecrosis. The potential clinical use of this method includes positive, differential and etiological diagnosis of tumors, determination of the level of malignancy of gliomas, screening for tumor recurrence following treatment. Our laboratory has been performing MR spectroscopic explorations of brain tumors for many years. Based on this experience, we show how MRS can be routinely performed in the clinical setting, what are its limitations and potential, and what kind of information can be supplied to the clinician.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, CNRS UMR 6612, Faculté de Médecine, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13005 Marseille.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galanaud
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nicoli
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Le Fur
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: Sylviane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Confort-Gouny
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dufour
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ranjeva
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Peragut
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viout
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Cozzone
mesh_terms: D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers; D001922:Brain Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003196:Computer Graphics; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005910:Glioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007294:Inositol / Q000378:metabolism; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008579:Meningioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D007294:Inositol; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline