1H MR spectroscopy in the assessment of gliomatosis cerebri.
OBJECTIVE
Gliomatosis cerebri is a rare brain tumor with a short survival time; for this reason, it is difficult to establish the degree of aggressivity in vivo. The MR spectroscopic findings on this tumor often do not agree with choline level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether MR spectroscopy can be used to measure tumor choline levels and whether the findings give useful information about tumor growth rate and patient survival time.


METHODS
We performed MRI and 1H MR spectroscopic studies on seven treatment-naive patients with gliomatosis cerebri and on 16 healthy volunteers. We then analyzed the association between survival time and levels of choline (Cho) and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) normalized to creatine (Cr).


RESULTS
The results showed a statistically significant (p = 0.05) inverse relation between Cho/Cr ratio and survival time. In addition, NAA/Cr ratio was significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group (p = 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Cho/Cr ratio measured with MR spectroscopy seems to be related to survival time, possibly explaining the inconsistent findings previously reported for this parameter.
Guzmán-de-Villoria
Juan A
JA
Department of Neuroradiology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain 28007.
Sánchez-González
Javier
J
Muñoz
Lucia
L
Reig
Santiago
S
Benito
Carlos
C
García-Barreno
Pedro
P
Desco
Manuel
M
D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002794:Choline / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D018302:Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011522:Protons
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011522:Protons; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D002794:Choline