MR Spectroscopic Findings in Brain Tumors and its Correlation with Histopathological Examination - A Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Introduction- Modern neuro-radiological advanced technologies like MR spectroscopic technique plays a pivotal role in MR imaging for accurate characterization of various neural pathologies in particular to differentiate brain neoplasms from its mimics. Aim - To evaluate the role of MRS in patients suspected for brain tumors who are being imaged for MRI brain study and correlate its findings with histopathological examination. Design- Prospective observational study. Materials and Methodology - Study was conducted in our Department of Radiodiagnosis among clinically suspected patients for brain neoplasm. MR spectroscopy was performed in cases whose MRI brain findings were in favor of neoplastic etiology and it’s correlated with histopathological examination. Results - Study was conducted in 55 patients. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of this MRS study were 80.95%, 98.18% and 92.73% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of lipid/ lactate levels as a metabolite tool to differentiate between high- and low-grade tumors were 71.43%, 97.06% and 87.27% respectively. Area under ROC curve also showed Lip/Lac levels in our study resulted in AUC of 0.842 at baseline and (p less than 0.001) in differentiating between low- and high-grade brain tumors. Conclusion- MR Spectroscopy along with Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Brain at the same sitting in cases of brain neoplasms, helped us in predicting the pathological nature of the lesions and also for grading the lesions as benign or malignant with very high accuracy and higher sensitivity and specificity.