Background and purpose: To determine magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) characteristics of intraaxialtumours, to assess MRS reliability in glioma grading and discrimination between different histopathological types of tumours and to determine the infiltrative nature of the tumour.
Results: The tumours showed decreased NAA and Cr contents and a high Cho signal. The Lac-Lip signal was high in grade III astrocytomas, glioblastomas, medulloblastoma and choroid plexus papilloma. Reports that Cho/Cr ratio and cho/NAA ratio increases with glioma’s grade whereas NAA/Cr decreases were confirmed with histopathological correlation. Diffuse infiltrative astrocytomas compared to anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastomas, had a statistically significantly greater mI/Cr ratio.
Conclusions: MR spectroscopy is as a reliable method for glioma grading. It is useful in discrimination between WHO grade II and grade III, IV astrocytomas as well as other intraaxial brain tumors. The spectroscopic MR measurements in the peritumoral region can be used to demonstrate differences in solitary metastases and high-grade gliomas and also peritumoral infiltrative nature of certain intraaxial brain tumor.
