title: Comparison between neuroimaging classifications and histopathological diagnoses using an international multicenter brain tumor magnetic resonance imaging database.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to estimate the accuracy of routine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies in the classification of brain tumors in terms of both cell type and grade of malignancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors retrospectively assessed the correlation between neuroimaging classifications and histopathological diagnoses by using multicenter database records from 393 patients with brain tumors. An ontology was devised to establish diagnostic agreement. Each tumor category was compared with the corresponding histopathological diagnoses by dichotomization. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPVs and NPVs, respectively), and the Wilson 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each were calculated. In routine reporting of MR imaging examinations, tumor types and grades were classified with a high specificity (85.2-100%); sensitivity varied, depending on the tumor type and grade, alone or in combination. The recognition of broad diagnostic categories (neuroepithelial or meningeal lesions) was highly sensitive, whereas when both detailed type and grade were considered, sensitivity diverged, being highest in low-grade meningioma (sensitivity 100%, 95% CI 96.2-100.0%) and lowest in high-grade meningioma (sensitivity 0.0%, 95% CI 0.0-65.8%) and low-grade oligodendroglioma (sensitivity 15%, 95% CI 5.2-36.0%). In neuroepithelial tumors, sensitivity was inversely related to the precision in reporting of grade and cellular origin; "glioma" was a frequent neuroimaging classification associated with higher sensitivity in the corresponding category. The PPVs varied among categories, in general being greater than their prevalence in this dataset. The NPV was high in all categories (69.8-100%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PPVs and NPVs provided in this study may be used as estimates of posttest probabilities of diagnostic accuracy using MR imaging. This study targets the need for noninvasively increasing sensitivity in categorizing most brain tumor types while retaining high specificity, especially in the differentiation of high- and low-grade glial tumor classes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Science Faculty Unit, Universitat Autbnoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Margarida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Julià-Sapé
authors.forename: Dionisio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Majós
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreno-Torres
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wesseling
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Acebes
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arús
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009380:Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity