Correlations between DTI-derived metrics and MRS metabolites in tumour regions of glioblastoma: a pilot study
Article Category: Research Article
Published Online: Sep 29, 2020
Page range: 394 - 408
Received: Jul 09, 2020
Accepted: Jul 31, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2020-0055
© 2020 Eduardo Flores-Alvarez, Edgar Anselmo Rios Piedra, Griselda-Adriana Cruz-Priego, Coral Durand-Muñoz, Sergio Moreno-Jimenez, Ernesto Roldan-Valadez, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction
Specific correlations among diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived metrics and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) metabolite ratios in brains with glioblastoma are still not completely understood.
Patients and methods
We made retrospective cohort study. MRS ratios (choline-to-N-acetyl aspartate [Cho/NAA], lipids and lactate to creatine [LL/Cr], and myo-inositol/creatine [mI/Cr]) were correlated with eleven DTI biomarkers: mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), pure isotropic diffusion (p), pure anisotropic diffusion (q), the total magnitude of the diffusion tensor (L), linear tensor (Cl), planar tensor (Cp), spherical tensor (Cs), relative anisotropy (RA), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) at the same regions: enhanced rim, peritumoral oedema and normal-appearing white matter. Correlational analyses of 546 MRS and DTI measurements used Spearman coefficient.
Results
At the enhancing rim we found four significant correlations: FA ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = -.364, p = .034; Cp ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = .362, p = .035; q ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = -.349, p = .035; RA ⇔ LL/Cr, Rs = -.357, p = .038. Another ten pairs of significant correlations were found in the peritumoral edema: AD ⇔ LL/Cr, AD ⇔ mI/Cr, MD ⇔ LL/Cr, MD ⇔ mI/Cr, p ⇔ LL/Cr, p ⇔ mI/ Cr, RD ⇔ mI/Cr, RD ⇔ mI/Cr, L ⇔ LL/Cr, L ⇔ mI/Cr.
Conclusions
DTI and MRS biomarkers answer different questions; peritumoral oedema represents the biggest challenge with at least ten significant correlations between DTI and MRS that need additional studies. The fact that DTI and MRS measures are not specific of one histologic type of tumour broadens their application to a wider variety of intracranial pathologies.