Kh. Chang et al., IN-VIVO SINGLE-VOXEL PROTON MR SPECTROSCOPY IN INTRACRANIAL CYSTIC MASSES, American journal of neuroradiology, 19(3), 1998, pp. 401-405
Citations number
17
Categorie Soggetti
Clinical Neurology","Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
PURPOSE: Our objective was to evaluate the proton MR spectroscopic pat
tern of the cystic contents of various intracranial masses and to repo
rt characteristic spectral patterns that may be helpful in the differe
ntial diagnosis of these lesions, METHODS: We evaluated 40 proton MR s
pect-ra obtained from cystic contents of various intracranial cystic m
asses in 39 patients, including gliomas (n = 14), metastases (n = 3),
abscesses (n = 8), cysticercosis (n = 4), epidermoids (n = 3), and oth
ers (n = 7). Proton MR spectroscopy was performed on a 1.5-T MR unit u
sing a point-resolved spectroscopic sequence with a 2 x 2 x 2 cm(3) vo
lume of interest, Assignment of the resonance peaks was based on previ
ous studies,RESULTS: Adequate proton MR spectroscopic data were obtain
ed in 35 cases (88%), In most gliomas and metastases, only a lactate r
esonance was observed, There was a trend toward a higher lactate peak
in high-grade gliomas, A few tumors, including malignant gliomas and m
etastases, showed lipid signal combined with lactate signal, In absces
ses, there were various combinations of lactate, acetate, succinate, a
mino acids (including valine, alanine, and/or leucine), and/or unassig
ned resonances, In cysticercosis, resonances of lactate, succinate, al
anine, acetate, and/or unassigned resonances were observed, Three epid
ermoid cysts showed only lactate signal, There were no identifiable re
sonances from the arachnoid and porencephalic cysts, CONCLUSION: Only
lactate is commonly observed in a variety of intracranial cystic masse
s, except for abscess and cysticercosis, in which resonances of acetat
e, succinate, amino acids, and/or unassigned metabolites can be seen i
n addition to a lactate peak.