Tissue signature characterisation of diffusion tensor abnormalities in cerebral gliomas
- 25 June 2004
- journal article
- neuro
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in European Radiology
- Vol. 14 (10), 1909-1917
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-004-2381-6
Abstract
The inherent invasiveness of malignant cells is a major determinant of the poor prognosis of cerebral gliomas. Diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) can identify white matter abnormalities in gliomas that are not seen on conventional imaging. By breaking down DTI into its isotropic (p) and anisotropic (q) components, we can determine tissue diffusion “signatures”. In this study we have characterised these abnormalities in peritumoural white matter tracts. Thirty-five patients with cerebral gliomas and seven normal volunteers were imaged with DTI and T2-weighted sequences at 3 T. Displaced, infiltrated and disrupted white matter tracts were identified using fractional anisotropy (FA) maps and directionally encoded colour maps and characterised using tissue signatures. The diffusion tissue signatures were normal in ROIs where the white matter was displaced. Infiltrated white matter was characterised by an increase in the isotropic component of the tensor (p) and a less marked reduction of the anisotropic component (q). In disrupted white matter tracts, there was a marked reduction in q and increase in p. The direction of water diffusion was grossly abnormal in these cases. Diffusion tissue signatures may be a useful method of assessing occult white matter infiltration.Keywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Brain Tumours at 3T: A Potential Tool for Assessing White Matter Tract Invasion?Clinical Radiology, 2003
- Peritumoral Diffusion Tensor Imaging of High-Grade Gliomas and Metastatic Brain Tumors2003
- Measurement of fractional anisotropy using diffusion tensor MRI in supratentorial astrocytic tumorsJournal of Neuro-Oncology, 2003
- Diffusion Anisotropy in the Corpus Callosum2002
- Normal aging in the central nervous system: quantitative MR diffusion-tensor analysisNeurobiology of Aging, 2002
- Diffusion tensor imaging demonstrates deviation of fibres in normal appearing white matter adjacent to a brain tumourJournal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2000
- Color schemes to represent the orientation of anisotropic tissues from diffusion tensor data: application to white matter fiber tract mapping in the human brain.1999
- Clinical Use of Diffusion-Tensor Imaging for Diseases Causing Neuronal and Axonal Damage1999
- Diffusion tensor MR imaging of the human brain.Radiology, 1996
- Human cerebral gliomas: correlation of postmortem MR imaging and neuropathologic findings.Radiology, 1989