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Differentiation of metastases from high‐grade gliomas using short echo time 1 H spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Opstad Kirstie S.,
Murphy Mary M.,
Wilkins Peter R.,
Bell B. Anthony,
Griffiths John R.,
Howe Franklyn A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20093
Subject(s) - echo time , carcinoma , lung , nuclear medicine , medicine , metabolite , breast carcinoma , pathology , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , cancer , breast cancer , radiology , physics
Purpose To determine if short echo time (TE) 1 H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can distinguish between intracranial metastases and glioblastomas. Materials and Methods TE 30‐msec spectra were acquired (1.5 T) from voxels entirely within tumors from 23 glioblastoma patients and 24 metastases patients (3 breast carcinomas, 1 bladder carcinoma, 8 lung carcinomas, 3 probable lung carcinomas, 6 melanomas, 1 stomach carcinoma, and 2 undetermined). Spectra were analyzed quantitatively (LCModel) to determine metabolite, lipid, and macromolecule concentrations. All tumors were previously untreated and classified histopathologically. Results The lipid peak area (LPA) ratio (total peak area at ca. δ1.3 to that at ca. δ0.9) was 2.6 ± 0.6 ( N = 25) for glioblastomas and 3.8 ± 1.4 ( N = 34) for metastases ( P < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in metabolite or lipid concentrations between the tumor groups. The LPA ratio provided 80% sensitivity and 80% specificity for discriminating metastases from glioblastomas. Conclusion Lipid and macromolecule (LM) signals can dominate 1 H spectra of high‐grade tumors and have characteristics that allow significant discrimination of metastases from glioblastomas. Work is now needed to determine the source and biophysical characteristics of these LM signals to further improve differentiation by optimizing the data acquisition and analysis protocol. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;20:187–192. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.