title: Combined value of susceptibility-weighted and perfusion-weighted imaging in assessing who grade for brain astrocytomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the value of combining susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) and dynamic susceptibility weighted contrast-enhanced (DSC) perfusion-weighted MRI (PWI) in assessing World Health Organization (WHO)grade for brain astrocytoma .
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 94 patients with pathologically confirmed astrocytomas underwent SWI and DSC scans. The evaluation included intratumoral susceptibility signal intensity (ITSS) and relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) max. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to assess the efficacy of combining two sequences in astrocytoma grading.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ITSS within astrocytomas showed significant correlations with rCBV max (r ¼ 0.72; P < 0.01) and with tumor grades (r ¼ 0.92; P < 0.01), and there was also a significant correlation between rCBV and tumor grade (r= 0.77; P < 0.001). The area under the ROC, SWI, PWI,SWI, and PWI, in differentiation of the grades II and III astrocytomas were 0.995, 0.942, and 1.000, respectively;identifying grades III and IV were 0.773, 0.919, and 0.978, respectively; and identifying high and low-grade astrocytomas were 0.999, 0.992, 1.000, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ITSS was useful for assessing the WHO tumor grade in this cohort of patients with astrocytoma.The combination of SWI and PWI may improve the diagnostic accuracy of astrocytoma grading.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, First Clinical Medical College, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-chun
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Jiang-bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xiao-feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA