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Abstract #0979

Challenges for the Functional Diffusion Map in Paediatric Brain Tumours with Different Grades

Matthew Grech-Sollars1, Dawn E. Saunders2, Kim P. Phipps3, Ramneek Kaur1, Jonathan D. Clayden1, Christopher A. Clark1

1UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom; 2Department of Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom; 3Department of Neuro-oncology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom


The functional diffusion map (fDM) has been suggested as a tool for early detection of tumour treatment efficacy. In higher grade tumours, it has been shown that a decrease in ADC is indicative of increased cellularity and poor treatment response. However, due to the relatively high ADC, and lower cellularity, of lower grade tumours, we expect a decrease in ADC to be indicative of positive treatment response. We therefore hypothesize that fDM changes need to be interpreted in accordance with tumour grade and show this in paediatric brain tumours of different grades.