Kyrre E. Emblem1,2, Paulina Due-Tonnessen1,3,
Inge A. Rasmussen Jr1, Atle Bjornerud2,4
1The Interventional Centre,
Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 2Department
of Medical Physics, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 3Clinic
for Imaging- and Intervention, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital,
Oslo, Norway; 4Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo,
Norway
In
this study, a fully-automatic method for longitudinal monitoring of low-grade
glioma transformation by quantitative dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC)
MRI was evaluated and compared to conventional criteria for malignant glioma
progression. Thirteen patients were imaged at least three times, with an
average time between two consecutive MR exams of 283 days. Our results
suggest that the fully-automatic method provides a sensitive marker for tumor
progression at an early stage compared to conventional imaging criteria.
Also, the quantitative tumor analysis and monitoring of baseline perfusion
values in unaffected brain tissue, allows inter- and intra-patient
comparisons across MR machines and institutions.