Diffusion tensor imaging in unclear intramedullary tumor-suspected lesions allows separating tumors from inflammation

Design Prospective diagnostic study. Objectives Primary imaging-based diagnosis of spinal cord tumor-suspected lesions is often challenging. The identification of the definite entity is crucial for dedicated treatment and therefore reduction of morbidity. The aim of this trial was to investigate spe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Spinal cord 2022-07, Vol.60 (7), p.655-663
Main Authors: Hohenhaus, Marc, Merz, Yorn, Klingler, Jan-Helge, Scholz, Christoph, Hubbe, Ulrich, Beck, Jürgen, Wolf, Katharina, Egger, Karl, Reisert, Marco, Kremers, Nico
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
59/57
631/378/2597/2600
692/617/375/1824
692/699/67/2321
Anatomy
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Diagnosis
Diagnostic systems
Edema
Health care facilities
Human Physiology
Inflammation
Lesions
Magnetic resonance imaging
Mathematical analysis
Medical imaging
Morbidity
Neoplasia
Neoplasms
Neurochemistry
Neuropsychology
Neurosciences
Patients
Spinal cancer
Spinal cord
Subgroups
Tensors
Tumors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Design Prospective diagnostic study. Objectives Primary imaging-based diagnosis of spinal cord tumor-suspected lesions is often challenging. The identification of the definite entity is crucial for dedicated treatment and therefore reduction of morbidity. The aim of this trial was to investigate specific quantitative signal patterns to differentiate unclear intramedullary tumor-suspected lesions based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Setting Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Germany. Methods Forty patients with an unclear tumor-suspected lesion of the spinal cord prospectively underwent DTI. Primary diagnosis was determined by histological or clinical work-up or remained indeterminate with follow-up. DTI metrics (FA/ADC) were evaluated at the central lesion area, lesion margin, edema, and normal spinal cord and compared between different diagnostic groups (ependymomas, other spinal cord tumors, inflammations). Results Mean DTI metrics for all spinal cord tumors ( n  = 18) showed significantly reduced FA and increased ADC values compared to inflammatory lesions ( n  = 8) at the lesion margin ( p  
ISSN:1362-4393
1476-5624
DOI:10.1038/s41393-021-00741-2