[Contribution of magnetic resonance spectrometry to the diagnosis of intracranial tumors].
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.
Galanaud
Damien
D
Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, CNRS UMR 6612, Faculté de Médecine, 27, boulevard Jean-Moulin, 13005 Marseille.
Nicoli
François
F
Le Fur
Yann
Y
Roche
Pierre
P
Confort-Gouny
Sylviane
S
Dufour
Henry
H
Ranjeva
Jean-Philippe
JP
Peragut
Jean-Claude
JC
Viout
Patrick
P
Cozzone
Patrick J
PJ
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
D015415:Biomarkers; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D007294:Inositol; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline