Comparison of arterial spin-labeling techniques and dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced MRI in perfusion imaging of normal brain tissue

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in normal brain tissue using arterial spin-labeling (ASL) methods and first-pass dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced (DSC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Sixty-two patients with brain metastases were examined on a 1.5 T-system up to 6 times during routine follow-up after stereotactic radiosurgery. Perfusion values in normal gray and white matter were measured using the ASL techniques ITS-FAIR in 38 patients, Q2TIPS in 62 patients, and the first-pass DSC echo-planar (EPI) MRI after bolus administration of gadopentetate dimeglumine in 42 patients. Precision of the ASL sequences was tested in follow-up examinations in 10 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Perfusion values in normal brain tissue obtained by all sequences correlated well by calculating Pearson's correlation coefficients (P < 0.0001) and remained unchanged after stereotactic radiosurgery as shown by analysis of variance (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Both ASL and DSC EPI MRI yield highly comparable perfusion values in normal brain tissue.     

Monitoring of irradiated brain metastases using MR perfusion imaging and 1H MR spectroscopy

PURPOSE. In follow-up examinations of irradiated brain metastases conventional contrast-enhanced morphological MR imaging is often unable to distinguish between transient radiation effects, radionecrosis,and tumor recurrence. To evaluate changes of relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in irradiated brain metastases arterial spin-labeling techniques (ASL) were applied and compared to the outcome of (1)H MR spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging ((1)H MRS, SI). PATIENTS AND METHODS. In 2 patients follow-up examinations of irradiated brain metastases were performed on a 1.5-T tomograph (average single dose: 20 Gy/80% isodose). Relative CBF values of gray matter (GM), white matter (WM),and metastases (Met) were measured by means of the ASL techniques ITS-FAIR and Q2TIPS. (1)H MRS was performed with PRESS 1500/135. RESULTS. In both patients with initially hyperperfused metastases (Met/GM >1) the reduction of rCBF after stereotactic radiosurgery indicated response to treatment--even if the contrast-enhancing region increased--while increasing rCBF values indicated tumor progression. The findings were confirmed by (1)H MRS, SI and subsequent follow-up. CONCLUSION. The ASL techniques ITS-FAIR and Q2TIPS are able to monitor changes of rCBF in irradiated brain metastases. The two cases imply a possible role for ASL-MR perfusion imaging and (1)H MR spectroscopy in differentiating radiation effects from tumor progression.     

Noninvasive measurement of relative cerebral blood flow with the blood bolus MRI arterial spin labeling: basic physics and clinical applications

Knowledge of tumor blood flow is important for diagnosis and follow-up of brain tumors after therapy, especially to discriminate necrosis from tumor recurrence after radiation or chemotherapy. Meanwhile, perfusion and diffusion MRI, besides MR-angiography, are state of the art in stroke imaging. Until now, perfusion imaging was mostly performed using the first-pass dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced (DSC) MRI. The MRI-based arterial spin labeling technique (ASL) is a novel approach for measuring relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) without using extrinsic contrast agents, by labeling spins of flowing arterial blood as intrinsic contrast agent. This article describes physical basics of ASL and shows clinical examples in neuroimaging such as in meningeoma, glioblastoma, oligodendroglioma, and cerebral ischemia, using the Q2TIPS ASL technique. Gray matter is clearly visible, while the observed white matter signal obtained by Q2TIPS is only slightly higher than background noise. Venous blood causes artefacts in the sagittal sinus and other large superficial veins in the subarachnoid space. Meningeoma and glioblastoma show elevated rCBF, whereas oligodendroglioma and cerebral ischemia have reduced rCBF values. Arterial-spin-labeling techniques are noninvasive tools for measuring rCBF within 5 min, using a standard MRI scanner.     

Assessment of brain metastases with dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced MR imaging: initial results

PURPOSE: To assess if preradiation and early follow-up regional cerebral blood volume (CBV) measurements can help predict treatment outcome in patients with cerebral metastases and to evaluate regional CBV changes in tumor and normal tissue after radiosurgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 18 patients, dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed with a 1.5-T unit, which allowed an absolute quantification of the regional CBV. Measurements were performed prior to and at 6 weeks and 3 months after therapy. Treatment outcome was classified according to tumor volume changes at 6 months. The regional CBV of the metastases and the normal adjacent brain tissue were determined with a region-of-interest analysis. Regional CBV values were correlated with the patient outcome to assess the sensitivity and specificity of dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced MR imaging. RESULTS: The pretherapeutic regional CBV was not able to help predict a treatment outcome; however, the method proved to be highly sensitive and specific for treatment outcome prediction at the 6-week follow-up. A decrease of the regional CBV value helped predict the treatment outcome with a sensitivity of more than 90%. The tumor volume change alone had a sensitivity of only 64%. The measured regional CBV values of normal brain tissue and their ratio were comparable to physiologic data and remained unchanged with therapy. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced MR imaging is a useful method for the assessment of radiosurgically treated brain metastases. The implemented technique with determination of the arterial input function enables an absolute quantification of the regional CBV and prediction of tumor response.     

ASL在中枢神经系统疾病诊断中的初步应用体会

目的:探讨动脉自旋标记(ASL)MRI灌注成像技术在中枢神经系统疾病中的临床价值.方法:24例颅内病变患者,其中急性脑梗死2例,脑血管畸形7例,胶质瘤4例,淋巴瘤2例,转移瘤4例,脑膜瘤5例.所有病例均经手术病理或随访证实.用ASL技术和动态磁敏感对比成像(DSC)2种方法进行MR灌注成像,分析2种方法对颅内病变的诊断价值.结果:对急性脑梗死患者可以显示灌注缺损区或低灌注区.在评价肿瘤血供方面,ASL与DSC 2种方法所测肿瘤组织rCBF值比较,差异无显著性意义.ASL技术磁敏感伪影明显小于DSC法,对于有出血、钙化的病灶以及颅底病变的显示明显优于DSC法,提高了定量分析的准确性.结论:ASL技术在评价脑组织局部血流灌注方面,具有可重复性高、完全非侵入性、不用注射对比剂等优点.同时对于有出血、钙化或位于颅底的病变,ASL技术明显优于DSC法.     

Use of stereotactic PET images in dosimetry planning of radiosurgery for brain tumors: clinical experience and proposed classification.

We developed a technique that allows the routine integration of PET in stereotactic neurosurgery, including radiosurgery. We report our clinical experience with the combined use of metabolic (i.e., PET) and anatomic (i.e., MRI and CT) images for the radiosurgical treatment of brain tumors. We propose a classification describing the relative role of the information provided by PET in this multimodality image-guided approach. METHODS: Between December 1999 and March 2003, 57 patients had stereotactic PET as part of their image acquisition for the planning of gamma knife radiosurgery. Together with stereotactic MRI and CT, stereotactic PET images were acquired on the same day using either (18)F-FDG or (11)C-methionine. PET images were imported in the planning software for the radiosurgery dosimetry, and the target volume was defined using the combined information of PET and MRI or CT. To analyze the specific contribution of the PET findings, we propose a classification that reflects the strategy used to define the target volume. RESULTS: The patients were offered radiosurgery with PET guidance when their tumor was ill-defined and we anticipated some limitation of target definition on MRI alone. This represents 10% of the radiosurgery procedures performed in our center during the same period of time. There were 40 primary brain lesions, 7 metastases, and 10 pituitary adenomas. Abnormal PET uptake was found in 62 of 72 targets (86%), and this information altered significantly the MRI-defined tumor in 43 targets (69%). CONCLUSION: The integration of PET in radiosurgery provides additional information that opens new perspectives for the optimization of the treatment of brain tumors.     

Linac-Based Radiosurgery of Cerebral Melanoma Metastases

PURPOSE: Stereotactic radiosurgery is an alternative option to neurosurgical excision in the management of patients with brain metastases. We retrospectively analyzed patients with brain metastases of malignant melanoma who were treated at our institution for outcome and prognostic factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 64 patients with 122 cerebral metastases were treated with stereotactic radiosurgery between 1986 and 2000. Twelve patients (19%) showed neurologic symptoms at the time of treatment, and 46 patients (72%) had extracerebral tumor manifestation at that time. The median dose to the 80% isodose line, prescribed to encompass the tumor margin, was 20 Gy (range, 15-22 Gy). RESULTS: Neurologic symptoms improved in five of twelve symptomatic patients. 41 patients remained asymptomatic or unchanged in their neurologic symptoms. Only five patients (8%) temporarily worsened neurologically after therapy despite no signs of tumor progression. With a mean follow-up time of 9.4 months, actuarial local control was 81% after 1 year. There was a statistically significant dose and size dependency of local tumor control. Median actuarial survival after treatment was 10.6 months. Patients without extracerebral tumor manifestation showed a superior survival (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Despite high local tumor control rates, the prognosis of patients with cerebral metastases of malignant melanoma remains poor. Stereotactic radiosurgery has the potential of stabilizing or improving neurologic symptoms in these patients in a palliative setting.     

Acute effects of stereotactic radiosurgery on the kineties of glucose metabolism in metastatic brain tumors: FDG PET study

Hyperacute changes in the expression of glycolysis-associate gene products as well as FDG uptake in tumor cells after high-dose irradiation reflect response of the cells to noxious intervention and may be a potential indicator of the outcome of treatment. To understand acute effects on the kinetics of glucose metabolism of tumors in vivo after high-dose irradiation, we analyzed dynamic FDG PET data in patients with metastatic brain tumors receiving stereotactic radiosurgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 5 patients with metastatic brain tumors by means of dynamic FDG PET before and 4 hours after stereotactic radiosurgery. Rate constants of glucose metabolism (K1*- k3*) were determined in a total of 13 tumors by a non-linear least squares fitting method for dynamic PET and arterial blood sampling data. Rate constants after radiosurgery were compared with those before radiosurgery. Changes in the rate constants induced by the therapy were also correlated with changes in tumor size evaluated by CT and/or MRI 6 months later. RESULTS: Four hours after radiosurgery, the phosphorylation rate indicated by k3* was significantly higher (0.080 +/- 0.058) than that before radiosurgery (0.049 +/- 0.023) (p < 0.05, paired t test), but there was no significant change in the membrane transport rates indicated by K1* and k2*. Although increases in the net influx rate constant K* (= K1*k3*/(k2* + k3*)) were correlated with increases in k3*, K* after radiosurgery (0.027 +/- 0.011) was not significantly different from that before the therapy (0.024 +/- 0.012). The reduction in the tumor size was correlated with k3* after radiosurgery. CONCLUSION: Acceleration of the phosphorylation process was demonstrated in vivo in metastatic brain tumors as early as 4 hours after stereotactic radiosurgery, as shown experimentally in vitro in a previous report. The phenomenon may be a sensitive indicator of cell damage.     

脑转移瘤立体定向放射治疗进展

MRI在脑转移瘤的诊断、治疗以及随访中有重要作用。原发灶状况、脑转移瘤的体积、立体定向放疗前后是否加全脑放疗、一般状况评分、回归分割分析(RPA)分级、是否存在颅外转移等是影响脑转移瘤治疗效果的主要因素。单纯立体定向放疗逐渐成为脑转移瘤治疗的主流,分次立体定向放疗在脑转移瘤治疗中的作用尚未完全明确。     

Risk assessment for cancer induction after low- and high-LET therapeutic irradiation

BACKGROUND: Stereotaxy is a method to determine a point in the patient's body by an external coordinate system which is attached to the patient. Radiosurgery uses this method for precise delivery of a high single radiation dose to the patient. The aim is to destroy the tissue in the target and to spare surrounding unaffected normal tissue by a steep dose gradient. METHODS: Three techniques of percutaneous radiosurgery are available: radiosurgery with ion beams with a cyclotron, spherical arrangement of cobalt-60 sources, the so-called gamma knife, and an adapted linear accelerator. The availability and the good clinical experience lead to a wide spread use of linear accelerator for radiosurgery in recent years. A subsequent development is fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy which combines the precision of radiosurgery with the radiobiological advantage of fractionation. RESULTS: Only a few indications for radiosurgery are proven by statistically valid studies. One of these is the treatment of small arteriovenous malformation, where obliteration rates of 80% to 100% are reported with only minor toxicity. However, the obliteration rate is reduced significantly in large arteriovenous malformations. A local control rate of 90% is obtained after radiosurgery of brain metastases which is comparable to the results of microsurgical resection followed by adjuvant whole brain radiotherapy. An ongoing EORTC study evaluates the role of adjuvant whole brain radiotherapy after radiosurgery. The survival of the patients with brain metastases is limited by the existence of progressive extracerebral disease. The role of radiosurgery in the treatment of benign tumors is currently evaluated in clinical studies which include: vestibular schwannomas, meningiomas, chordomas and chondrosarcomas and pituitary adenomas. Most of the published studies include only small tumors because radiosurgery is limited by the risk of radionecrosis of adjacent normal tissue, which shows a steep dose volume response relationship. Recent developments of stereotactic radiotherapy include the use of mini-multileaf-collimators and clinical studies on stereotactic radiotherapy of extracranial targets. CONCLUSIONS: Stereotactic irradiation is a well established treatment technique for intracranial tumors and arteriovenous malformations. Methods are available that allow optimization of dose distributions to irregularly shaped tumors for single dose as well as fractionated stereotactic irradiations by linear accelerator. Therefore the therapeutic potential of this technique has increased and enables also the extracerebral application in controlled clinical studies.     

Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy to the Rat Hippocampus

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (hfSRT) on adult rat brain tissue (necrosis, impact on blood-brain barrier, signal changes on high-field magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Adult male Wistar rats underwent MRI and CT scanning of the brain and respective images were introduced into the Novalis radiosurgery device (BrainLab, Feldkirchen, Germany). All animals (body weight 350 g) were irradiated weekly with doses of 2 x 10 Gy (n = 3 animals), 3 x 10 Gy (n = 3 animals) and 4 x 10 Gy (n = 3 animals), targeted to the left hippocampus after image-guided positioning. 4.7-T T2-weighted MRI scanning was performed in each animal. Animals were sacrificed 8, 12, and 16 weeks after hfSRT and brains were immersion-fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for subsequent histopathologic analysis. RESULTS: In concordance with isodose distributions, pathologic signal hyperintensities in MRI were recorded from 4 x 10 Gy after 8 weeks, 3 x 10 Gy after 12 weeks, while 2 x 10 Gy induced slight detectable alterations only after 16 weeks. Subsequent histopathologic analysis revealed hippocampal cell necrosis with significantly earlier and stronger occurrence for higher doses (40 Gy > 30 Gy > 20 Gy). Pial microvessel permeability also increased after 40 Gy, whereas 30 Gy induced moderate changes. CONCLUSION: Partial-brain irradiation with hfSRT (Novalis System) was successfully adopted for small animals and histopathologic analysis confirmed its repositioning accuracy. The neuropathologic effects correlated with dose and observation time. The approach will be further developed for quality assurance in hfSRT of normal brain tissue, as well as novel treatment modalities in epileptic rats and orthotopic tumor models.     

Arterial spin labeling blood flow magnetic resonance imaging for the characterization of metastatic renal cell carcinoma(1)

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: This study sought to assess the feasibility of arterial spin labeling (ASL) blood flow (BF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the study of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the body, where the respiratory, cardiac, and peristaltic motions present challenges when applying ASL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ASL was performed using a background-suppressed single-section flow-alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) preparation and a single-shot fast spin-echo imaging sequence on a 3.0-T whole body imager. Tumor BF was evaluated for 26 patients with RCC metastatic to the liver, bone, lung, or lymph nodes before VEGF receptor inhibitor therapy. Two cases with tumor size change after treatment were also scanned 1 month after therapy. For validation, kidney cortex BF in five normal volunteers was measured with the same technique and compared with literature values. RESULTS: ASL was successfully performed in all normal volunteers and in 20 of 26 patients. The six failures resulted from a systematic error, which can be avoided in future studies. For normal volunteers, measured kidney cortex BF was 275 +/- 14 mL/min/100 g, a value consistent with the literature. ASL determined tumor BF averaged across tumor volume and subjects was 194 mL/min/100 g (intersubject SD = 100), resulting in high perfusion signal and conspicuity of lesions. Bright signal was also seen in large vessels and occasionally in bowel. In the two cases studied 1 month after therapy, ASL perfusion changes were consistent with tumor size changes. CONCLUSION: With background suppression, ASL MRI is a feasible method for quantifying BF in patients with renal cell carcinoma. This technique may be useful for evaluating tumor response to antiangiogenic agents.     

Changes in cerebral blood flow after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt can help predict the development of hepatic encephalopathy: An arterial spin labeling MR study

Background and purpose

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) are still unclear. Our aim is to assess the TIPS-induced CBF changes and their potential clinical significance using the arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion magnetic resonance imaging.

Materials and methods

Nine cirrhotic patients underwent ASL 1–8 days before and 4–7 days after TIPS. CBF was calculated at each voxel and mean CBF values were computed in the whole brain, gray matter and white matter. Changes of CBFs before and after TIPS were compared by paired t-test.

Results

Voxel-wise results showed CBF diffusely increased in patients after TIPS, but no region with significant decrease in CBF was found, nor was any significant mean CBF difference detected in the whole brain, gray matter and white matter. Six patients out of nine showed a global CBF increase of 9–39%; one patient presented a global CBF decrease of 6%; another two showed a global CBF decrease of 16% and 31% respectively. Follow-up studies showed that the two patients with greatly decreased global CBF suffered from multiple episodes of overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) after TIPS and one died of OHE.

Conclusions

CBF derived from noninvasive ASL MRI could be used as a useful biomarker to predict the development of OHE through consecutively tracking CBF changes in patients with inserted TIPS. Increased CBFs in many cortical regions could be common effects of the TIPS procedure, while decreased global CBF following TIPS might indicate the development of OHE.     

18F-Fluorocholine PET uptake correlates with pathologic evidence of recurrent tumor after stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases

European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging - Radiographic changes of brain metastases after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can signify tumor recurrence and/or radiation necrosis...     

Monitoring Cerebral Perfusion Changes Using Arterial Spin-Labeling Perfusion MRI after Indirect Revascularization in Children with Moyamoya Disease

ObjectiveTo assess the role of arterial spin-labeling (ASL) perfusion MRI in identifying cerebral perfusion changes after indirect revascularization in children with moyamoya disease.Materials and MethodsWe included pre- and postoperative perfusion MRI data of 30 children with moyamoya disease (13 boys and 17 girls; mean age ± standard deviation, 6.3 ± 3.0 years) who underwent indirect revascularization between June 2016 and August 2017. Relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and qualitative perfusion scores for arterial transit time (ATT) effects were evaluated in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory on ASL perfusion MRI. The rCBF and relative time-to-peak (rTTP) values were also measured using dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion MRI. Each perfusion change on ASL and DSC perfusion MRI was analyzed using the paired t test. We analyzed the correlation between perfusion changes on ASL and DSC images using Spearman''s correlation coefficient.ResultsThe ASL rCBF values improved at both the ganglionic and supraganglionic levels of the MCA territory after surgery (p = 0.040 and p = 0.003, respectively). The ATT perfusion scores also improved at both levels (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The rCBF and rTTP values on DSC MRI showed significant improvement at both levels of the MCA territory of the operated side (all p < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between the improvements in rCBF values on the two perfusion images (r = 0.195, p = 0.303); however, there was a correlation between the change in perfusion scores on ASL and rTTP on DSC MRI (r = 0.701, p < 0.001).ConclusionRecognizing the effects of ATT on ASL perfusion MRI may help monitor cerebral perfusion changes and complement quantitative rCBF assessment using ASL perfusion MRI in patients with moyamoya disease after indirect revascularization.     

Hyperacute changes in glucose metabolism of brain tumors after stereotactic radiosurgery: a PET study.

Cultured tumor cells show a marked increase in deoxyglucose uptake as early as 3 h after single high-dose irradiation, reflecting hyperacute response of the cells to noxious intervention. To evaluate the hyperacute effect of high-dose irradiation on tumor glucose metabolism in vivo, we measured 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) tumor uptake before and immediately after stereotactic radiosurgery. METHODS: A total of 19 brain tumors (17 metastatic and 2 primary, a meningioma and a central neurocytoma) in eight patients were treated with stereotactic radiosurgery. The received dose was between 24 and 32 Gy delivered to the central target point in the tumor. FDG PET was performed within 1 wk before radiosurgery and again 4 h after treatment. The net influx constant (Ki) was calculated on a pixel-by-pixel basis using graphical analysis, and the Ki ratio of tumor to ipsilateral cerebellum was used as an index of FDG uptake of the tumor. RESULTS: Eighteen of 19 irradiated tumors, all metastatic tumors and the meningioma, showed a 29.7% +/- 14.0% increase in the Ki ratio, which was significantly higher than that of nonirradiated tumors (4.1% +/- 3.6%, n = 8, P < 0.0001, analysis of variance). In metastatic tumors, an increase in the Ki ratio was significantly correlated with a decrease in the size of the irradiated tumors, as revealed by follow-up with CT or MRI (r = 0.61, P = 0.012, simple regression). The meningioma did not show a significant decrease in size, probably due to the short follow-up period. The central neurocytoma did not show any change in the Ki ratio or in tumor size. CONCLUSION: Serial FDG PET could be a potential tool for predicting the outcome of radiosurgery for brain tumors by detecting hyperacute changes in tumor glucose metabolism.     

X-刀治疗大鼠胶质瘤的磁共振灌注成像

目的 :观察X 刀对大鼠脑胶质瘤的治疗作用 ,探讨MR灌注成像 (PWI)对X 刀治疗疗效的早期评价。方法 :2 0只SD雄性大鼠右尾状核接种C6胶质瘤细胞复制大鼠脑胶质瘤模型。治疗组 10只接种胶质瘤细胞后第 15天行X 刀治疗 ,10只对照组未行治疗 ,分别第 15天 (治疗组X 刀治疗前 )和第 17天行PWI ,计算肿瘤的相对局部脑血容量(rrCBV) ,观察治疗后肿瘤rrCBV的变化率 ,并与荷瘤鼠存活期进行回归分析。结果 :肿瘤接种成功率为 10 0 %。治疗组治疗后 48h肿瘤的rrCBV明显减小 ,其下降百分比平均为 3 5 .8%。对照组和治疗组大鼠生存期分别为 2 2 .8和 3 0 .5d ,两组间差异有显著意义。X 刀治疗后肿瘤rrCBV的下降百分比与大鼠生存期密切相关 (r =0 .82 ,P <0 .0 5 )。结论 :X 刀治疗能延长荷胶质瘤大鼠生存期 ,PWI能在治疗后早期判断愈后     

Role of enhanced MRI in the follow-up of patients with medically refractory trigeminal neuralgia undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery using the gamma knife: initial experience

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the early posttreatment MR findings, and their clinical utility, in patients with trigeminal neuralgia undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery using the gamma knife. METHOD: Twenty-six patients with medically refractory trigeminal neuralgia underwent stereotactic radiosurgery. A single dose of 70-90 Gy was administered to the proximal root entry zone (n = 21) or the retrogasserian portion (n = 5) of the trigeminal nerve. Posttreatment enhanced MRI and clinical assessment were performed at 3-6 months. RESULTS: Five patients did not have radiologic follow-up. There were no changes identified in the treated trigeminal nerve or adjacent brainstem in 19 of 21 patients. Two patients with multiple sclerosis developed abnormal signal and enhancement in the brainstem and/or trigeminal nerve; neither had clinical complications. Onset of therapeutic effect ranged from 3 weeks to 3 months; 19 patients had a beneficial response. CONCLUSION: Results of enhanced MRI 3-6 months after stereotactic radiosurgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia do not correlate with the clinical response. Because beneficial clinical responses or treatment failures are apparent by 3 months, routine posttreatment MRI in these patients is not warranted.     

Pediatric astrocytic tumor grading: comparison between arterial spin labeling and dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI perfusion

Purpose

The aim of this study was to compare arterial spin labeling (ASL) and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI perfusion with respect to diagnostic performance in tumor grading in pediatric patients with low- and high-grade astrocytic tumors (AT).

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 37 children with histologically proven treatment naive low- and high-grade AT who underwent concomitant pre-operative ASL and DSC MRI perfusion. Studies were performed on a 1.5 T scanner, and a pulsed technique was used for ASL. DSC data were post-processed with a leakage correction software. Normalization of tumor perfusion parameters was performed with contralateral normal appearing gray matter. Normalized cerebral blood volume (nCBV) values in the most perfused area of each neoplasm were compared with normalized DSC-derived cerebral blood flow (nDSC-CBF) and ASL-derived cerebral blood flow (nASL-CBF) data, and correlated with WHO tumor grade. Statistics included Pearson’s chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests, Spearman’s rank correlation, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Results

A significant correlation was demonstrated between DSC and ASL data (p?<?0.001). Significant differences in terms of DSC and ASL data were found between low- and high-grade AT (p?<?0.001). ROC analysis demonstrated similar performances between all parameters in predicting tumor grade (nCBV: AUC 0.96, p?<?0.001; nDSC-CBF: AUC 0.98, p?<?0.001; nASL-CBF: AUC 0.96, p?<?0.001).

Conclusions

Normalized pulsed ASL performed with a 1.5 T scanner provides comparable results to DSC MRI perfusion in pediatric AT and may allow distinction between high- and low-grade AT.

     

QUIPSS II with window-sliding saturation sequence (Q2WISE)

A series of periodic saturation pulses used to minimize the error caused by varying transit delays in assessing perfusion using quantitative imaging of perfusion using a single subtraction II with thin-slice TI(1) periodic saturation (Q2TIPS) increases the specific absorption rate. Quantitative imaging of perfusion using a single subtraction II with window-sliding saturation sequence (Q2WISE) has been developed, in which numerous thin saturation pulses are replaced by two thin pulses and one thick saturation pulse arranged in a window-sliding manner within the labeling region to maintain a sharp slice profile while reducing specific absorption rate. Q2WISE essentially is a hybrid between Q2TIPS and quantitative imaging of perfusion using a single subtraction II for use in specific absorption rate intensive applications. Q2WISE was implemented on a 3 T MRI scanner to measure perfusion rates in the brain and kidneys of eight healthy volunteers and results were compared with those from Q2TIPS. Mean perfusion values of both methods for the brain (75 ± 17 [Q2WISE] and 74 ± 13 mL/100 g/min [Q2TIPS]) and kidney (308 ± 48 [Q2WISE] and 299 ± 43 mL/100 g/min [Q2TIPS]) were in very good agreement.