ISSN:
1432-1920
Keywords:
Key words Magnetic resonance imaging
;
Tumors intracranial
;
Edema
;
cerebral
;
Contrast enhancement
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Peritumoral edema and contrast enhancement of brain tumors are both thought to be due to breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB); however, the exact mechanism by which these two phenomena occur and whether there is a quantitative or etiological relationship is not known. Our purpose was to determine whether the relationship between the breakdown of the BBB, defined radiologically as the degree of contrast enhancement, and the volume of surrounding edema is different for high-grade gliomas and meningiomas. We analyzed 13 meningiomas and 23 gliomas. A direct linear relationship between the degree of contrast enhancement (dC) and volume of peritumoral edema (V) with a high correlation coefficient (R = 0.66, P = 0.0006) was established for gliomas. A mathematical relationship between dC and V could not be established for meningioma. The findings for gliomas offer indirect radiological evidence that the defect in the BBB which causes edema is quantitatively and etiologically related to the defect in the BBB responsible for contrast enhancement. For meningiomas, the lack of a relationship between dC and V implies either that the mechanisms responsible for formation of edema and contrast enhancement are fundamentally different or that a physical barrier in certain meningiomas limits propagation of edema into the adjacent white matter.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s002340050848
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