Histogram analysis of T2*-based pharmacokinetic imaging in cerebral glioma grading

Background and objective To investigate the feasibility of histogram analysis of the T2*-based permeability parameter volume transfer constant (Ktrans) for glioma grading and to explore the diagnostic performance of the histogram analysis of Ktrans and blood plasma volume (vp). Methods We recruited 31 and 11 patients with high- and low-grade gliomas, respectively. The histogram parameters of Ktrans and vp, derived from the first-pass pharmacokinetic modeling based on the T2* dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T2* DSC-PW-MRI) from the entire tumor volume, were evaluated for differentiating glioma grades. Results Histogram parameters of Ktrans and vp showed significant differences between high- and low-grade gliomas and exhibited significant correlations with tumor grades. The mean Ktrans derived from the T2* DSC-PW-MRI had the highest sensitivity and specificity for differentiating high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas compared with other histogram parameters of Ktrans and vp. Conclusions Histogram analysis of T2*-based pharmacokinetic imaging is useful for cerebral glioma grading. The histogram parameters of the entire tumor Ktrans measurement can provide increased accuracy with additional information regarding microvascular permeability changes for identifying high-grade brain tumors.