In. Pronin et al., MRI OF HIGH-GRADE GLIAL TUMORS - CORRELATION BETWEEN THE DEGREE OF CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT AND THE VOLUME OF SURROUNDING EDEMA, Neuroradiology, 39(5), 1997, pp. 348-350
Citations number
16
Categorie Soggetti
Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging","Clinical Neurology
Contrast enhancement of malignant gliomas and the development of perit
umoral edema are thought to be due to a breakdown of the blood-brain b
arrier (BBB). The degree to which these two factors are related to eac
h other or to the degree of damage to the BBB is unknown. Our purpose
was to quantitatively correlate the degree of enhancement with Gd-DTPA
of anaplastic gliomas and glioblastoma multiforme with the volume of
surrounding edema. In 14 patients, quantitative measurements of the vo
lume of peritumoral edema and the degree of contrast enhancement were
made, A high degree of correlation was found (r = 0.86, P < 0.01). The
se results can be viewed as indirect, radiological evidence that edema
production is quantitatively related to the degree of breakdown of th
e BBB as determined by gadolinium enhancement. These results imply tha
t the origin of the edema is in the area of breakdown of the BBB.