GADOLINIUM-DTPA IN MR IMAGING OF GLIOBLASTOMAS AND INTRACRANIAL METASTASES

Abstract

In 14 patients with the diagnosis of glioblastoma (n = 7) or intracranial metastases (n = 7), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed using a variety of spin-echo (SE) pulse sequences before and after i.v. injection of 0.1 mmol gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) per kg of body weight. In 10 patients, tumor tissue could not be adequately differentiated from perifocal edema on unenhanced scans with any of the applied pulse sequences. In 4 cases of intracranial metastases, poor differentiation between tumor and perifocal edema was possible in T2-weighted (SE 1600/70 and SE 1600/105) unenhanced scans. After administration of Gd-DTPA, tumor tissue showed marked contrast enhancement and tumor delineation was consistently possible on SE 800/35 images. Tumor tissues could be differentiated from perifocal edema on SE 800/70 scans. Gd-DTPA is likely to increase the potential of MR imaging and refine the evaluation of glioblastomas and intracerebral metastases.