Clinical research of MR diffusion weighted imaging in pathological grading of glioma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the value of MR diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in the pathological grading of glioma. Methods Thirty patients who were confirmed pathologically with glioma were examined by MR DWI. The values of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and relative ADC (rADC) were measured. All those values were analyzed statistically. Results The 30 glioma patients were divided into lower-grade and higher-grade glioma groups. The lower-grade glioma group included 14 cases (1 case of WHO Ⅰ, tricholeukocyte astrocytoma; 13 cases of WHO Ⅱ, 11 astrocytomas with 1 case of post-operative reenrrence, 1 ependymoma, 1 oligodendroglioma); the higher-grade group included 16 cases (! I cases of WHOm, anaplastic astrocytoma with 1 case of post-operative recurrence; 5 cases of WHO Ⅳ, 4 multiforme glioblastomas, 1 ependymoma). The ADC and rADC values of lower-grade gliomas were (1.36±0.16)×10-3 mm2/s and 1.76±0.23, and the values of higher-grade glioma were (1.08±0.10)×10-3 mm2/s and 1.36±0.16, respectively. The values of ADC and rADC were significantly different between the 2 groups (P<0.05). The accuracy rates were 86.7% and 83.3% when the thresholds of ADC and rADC were 1.20×10-3 mm2/s and 1.53. Conclusion The values of ADC and rADC have high accuracy for pathological grading of the glioma. Key words: Glioma; Magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion