Brain tumor metabolism was studied with hydrogen-1 magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose in 50 patients. N-acetylaspartate (NAA) was generally decreased in tumors and radiation necrosis but was somewhat preserved at neoplasm margins. Choline was increased in most solid tumors. Solid high-grade gliomas had higher normalized choline values than did solid low-grade gliomas (P < .02), but the normalized choline value was not a discriminator of tumor grade, since necrotic high-grade lesions had reduced choline values. Serial studies in one case showed an increase in choline as the glioma underwent malignant degeneration. Choline values were lower in chronic radiation necrosis than in solid anaplastic tumors (P < .001). In two cases studied before and after treatment, clinical improvement and a reduction in choline followed therapy. Lactate is more likely to be found in high-grade gliomas, but its presence is not a reliable indicator of malignancy.

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of cadaveric knees was performed to determine optimal sequences for visualization of hyaline cartilage. Full-thickness cartilage lesions ranging in diameter from 1 to 5 mm and a partial-thickness cartilage lesion 15 mm in diameter were created in the femoral articular surfaces of three cadaveric knees. The knees were then imaged with a 1.5-T imager with various two-dimensional and high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) techniques. After imaging, the knee specimens were sectioned for evaluation. Measurements of cartilage thickness in fast spin-echo images correlated best with those in the gross specimen. Diffuse areas of cartilage thinning were also most accurately identified with fast spin-echo images. Small, focal cartilage defects were best delineated in 3D SPGR (spoiled GRASS [gradient-recalled acquisition in the steady state]) images.

Canine cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea, which occurs frequently in purebred beagles, was demonstrated in two dogs on magnetic resonance images after cisternal introduction of gadolinium-DTPA dimeglumine.

MR images in 54 patients with biopsy-proven diffuse or "fibrillary" astrocytomas were analyzed and compared with the histopathologic features in order to determine which histopathologic characteristics underlie the radiographic findings in these gliomas and whether radiographic findings are more closely correlated with individual histopathologic characteristics than with histologically determined tumor grade. The MRI features studies included tumor heterogeneity, edema, mass effect, border sharpness, "anatomic invasion", contrast enhancement, hemorrhage, and the presence of flow voids, calcium and cyst formation. The histopathologic characteristics studied included cellular atypia, mitoses, cellularity, endothelial proliferation, necrosis and tumor grade. Edema (P less than 0.01), flow voids (P = 0.02) and contrast enhancement (P less than 0.01) demonstrated a direct correlation with tumor grade, but edema (P less than 0.01) and contrast enhancement (P less than 0.01) also demonstrated a significant correlation to tumor cellularity. Tumor heterogeneity was associated with the presence of necrosis (P = 0.01). Hemorrhage occurred only in high grade tumors, where it correlated with endothelial proliferation (P = 0.04).

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