Value of Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Weighted Imaging in Evaluating Cellular Density of Astrocytomas

摘要

Objective: To evaluate the value of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) in Magnetic Resonance diffusion weighted imaging (MR DWI) with echo-planar technique in depicting the tumor cellularity and grading of astrocytomas. Methods: Thirty-four patients with astrocytomas(18 male, 16 female, ages from 10-73 with average of 38. 41) were examined by MRI and proved by surgery and pathology, and the number of grade Ⅰ - Ⅱ (low-grade) and grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ(high-grade) is 26 and 8 respectively. ADC values of astrocytomas were determined on MR DWI. Cellularity of astrocytomas was analyzed with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 software. Results-. Mean ADC values of high-grade astrocytomas( 7.34 +-2.95) x10~(-4)mm~2/s were significantly different from that of low-grade astrocytomas( 13.76 +- 3.31) x 10~(-4) mm~2/s (t = 4.913, P < 0. 001). Cellularity of high-grade astrocytomas (19.81 +-9.73) % were significantly higher than that of low-grade astrocytomas(4.74 +- 2.96) % (t = 4. 32, P = 0.003). ADC values of astrocytomas significantly negatively correlated with their cellularities (r = -0.535, P = 0.001). Conclusion: The cellularities of astrocytomas contribute very much to ADC values in MR DWI. MR DWI is very valuable in predicting and evaluating the cellularity of astrocytomas. MR DWI might have a potential in predicting the degree of astrocytomas.