MALIGNANT GLIOMA - EVALUATION WITH 3D TIME-OF-FLIGHT MR-ANGIOGRAPHY

Purpose: To investigate the clinical utility of 3D time-of-flight (TOF ) MR angiography (MRA) in the evaluation of pathological vessels in pa tients with malignant glioma. Material and Methods. Sixteen patients w ith malignant glioma (12 with glioblastoma multiforme and 4 with anapl astic astrocytoma) were examined with 3D TOF MRA before and after the injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine. The 3D TOF MRA study was compa red with conventional angiography in all patients. Results: The unenha nced 3D TOF MRAs successfully depicted the feeding arteries in 9 patie nts but failed to depict small feeding arteries in 2 patients in whom these arteries were shown by conventional angiography. The enhanced MR As demonstrated draining veins from the lesions in 8 patients but fail ed to depict a draining vein in 1 patient that was shown by convention al angiography. The stereoscopic view projection effectively depicted displacements of the major cerebral arteries in 14 patients, and deep venous structures in 11 patients which almost accorded with the findin gs at conventional angiography. Conclusion. Our results indicate that 3D TOF MRA can provide an accurate visualization of pathological vascu lar structures and thus help establish a diagnosis in patients with ma lignant glioma.