The utility of MRI histogram and texture analysis for the prediction of histological diagnosis in head and neck malignancies

Noriyuki Fujima,Kohsuke Kudo,Takatsugu Mizumachi,Khin Khin Tha,Satoshi Kano,Akihiro Homma,Ruijiang Li,Hiroki Shirato,Yukie Shimizu,Taisuke Harada

doi:10.1186/s40644-019-0193-9

Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40644-019-0193-9

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Abstract

BackgroundTo assess the utility of histogram and texture analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging (Fs-T2WI) for the prediction of histological diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant lymphoma (ML).MethodsThe cases of 57 patients with SCC (45 well/moderately and 12 poorly differentiated SCC) and 10 patients with ML were retrospectively analyzed. Quantitative parameters with histogram features (relative mean signal, coefficient of variation, kurtosis and skewness) and gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features (contrast, correlation, energy and homogeneity) were calculated using Fs-T2WI data with a manual tumor region of interest (ROI).ResultsThe following significantly different values were obtained for the total SCC versus ML groups: relative mean signal (3.65 ± 0.86 vs. 2.61 ± 0.49), contrast (72.9 ± 16.2 vs. 49.3 ± 8.7) and homogeneity (2.22 ± 0.25 × 10− 1 vs. 2.53 ± 0.12 × 10− 1). In the comparison of the SCC histological grades, the relative mean signal and contrast were significantly lower in the poorly differentiated SCC (2.89 ± 0.63, 56.2 ± 12.9) compared to the well/moderately SCC (3.85 ± 0.81, 77.5 ± 13.9). The homogeneity in poorly differentiated SCC (2.56 ± 0.15 × 10− 1) was higher than that of the well/moderately SCC (2.1 ± 0.18 × 10− 1).ConclusionsParameters obtained by histogram and texture analysis of Fs-T2WI may be useful for noninvasive prediction of histological type and grade in head and neck malignancy.

Highlights

To assess the utility of histogram and texture analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging (Fs-T2WI) for the prediction of histological diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant lymphoma (ML)
All patients fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: (1) the patient was first diagnosed histopathologically as having head and neck SCC or ML; (2) MR imaging (MRI) including axial Fs-T2WI was performed before any treatment, in accord with the specific MR equipment and parameters described below; and (3) the SCC patients’ histological grade was pathologically diagnosed
All parameters of the histogram and gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features were successfully calculated in all patients

Summary

Introduction

To assess the utility of histogram and texture analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging (Fs-T2WI) for the prediction of histological diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant lymphoma (ML). In the pretreatment evaluation of SCC, the histological grade as well as the TNM stage classification Quantitative imaging methods such as histogram and texture analysis are being investigated for the diagnosis, the prediction of treatment outcome, and the (2019) 19:5 association with tumor genomic information in head and neck malignancies [8,9,10,11]. We conducted the present study to assess the utility of histogram and texture analysis for the detailed histological diagnosis of head and neck malignancies In this approach, we used the imaging data of magnetic resonance (MR) fat-suppressed T2 weighted images (Fs-T2WI), which is frequently used for noninvasive head and neck tumor imaging

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Conclusion