Quantitative analysis of neovascular permeability in glioma by dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging

This study was designed to quantitatively analyse neovascular permeability in glioma by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). Forty-four patients with glioma were included in this study. The highest value of volume transfer constant (K-trans) and volume of extravascular extracellular space per unit volume of tissue (lie) were obtained and the differences in K-trans and V-e between low-grade glioma (LGG) and high-grade glioma (HGG) were analyzed. The correlations between K-trans. Ve and glioma grade were performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were conducted. The values of K-trans and V-e of LGG were significantly lower than those of HGG. The correlation analysis demonstrated statistically significant relationships between K-trans and glioma grade, between V-e and glioma grade, and between K-trans and V-e. The ROC curve analyses of K-trans (0.035/min) and V-e (0.130) for differentiating LGG from HGG were statistically significant. Thus, DCE-MRI can be used to estimate neovascular permeability and for pre-operative grading of glioma. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.