Differentiation of Posterior Fossa Brain Tumors by Diffusion Weighted Imaging

Abstract

Background: Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) map provide information on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) about the cellularity of the tumor and have an important role in the pre-operative differentiation of different tumor types. The aim of the current study is to differentiate between pediatric and adult posterior fossa brain tumours using DWI calculation of ADC value of these tumours and correlate our findings with the histopathological reported data. Methods: Our study included a total of 34 patients with posterior fossa brain tumours. Conventional MRI and MRI DWI were applied for each patient. The calculation of the ADC value was performed for the pediatric and adult posterior fossa brain tumours. Results: This study included 34 patients with posterior fossa brain tumours,19 males and 15 females while the cases were selected randomly from the neurosurgery department. Our study has been divided into pediatric group which included 11 patients and adult group with 23 patients. We found a significant difference in 1 (regions of interest) ROI ADC values between all types of pediatric posterior fossa brain tumours (p<0.001). Furthermore, there was a significant difference in 3 ROIs ADC values between all types of pediatric posterior fossa brain tumours (p<0.001). There were no significant differences in 1 ROIs ADC values as well as 3 ROIs ADC values between the adult posterior fossa brain tumors (p value> 0.05). Conclusion: ADC values are simple and readily available techniques for preoperative differentiation of the most common posterior fossa.