Author(s)

John Dongas^1*, Adon Toru Asahina¹, Stephen Bacchi², Sandy Patel³

¹University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
²Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, Australia.
³Department of Medical Imaging, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia.

In patients with high grade gliomas (HGGs), progression after treatment can be difficult to diagnose due to treatment-related effects, which overlap in appearance with tumour progression on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences. Specialised imaging methods have been studied for this purpose, though most institutions currently use histopathology or clinicoradiological follow-up for diagnosis. This publication aims to review the evidence for perfusion MRI techniques. The databases of Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus were searched using combinations of the subject headings high grade glioma and MRI perfusion. 41 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast (DSC) MRI was the most extensively studied, with several studies achieving high sensitivities and specificities. Other techniques exhibiting potential include Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) MRI, Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL). However, these techniques are not widely used or available for clinical practice. Composite measures combining results from multiple techniques tended to achieve higher accuracies. Some publications compared processing software used or looked at machine learning with relative success. An issue common to the literature is the lack of standardisation in the reference standard and acquisition/processing methods. Furthermore, many had small sample sizes, and further consideration needs to be given with regards to timing of imaging, and treatment regimens received in such studies.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Perfusion, High Grade Glioma, Progression, Pseudo Progression

Dongas, J. , Asahina, A. , Bacchi, S. and Patel, S. (2018) Magnetic Resonance Perfusion Imaging in the Diagnosis of High-Grade Glioma Progression and Treatment-Related Changes: A Systematic Review. Open Journal of Modern Neurosurgery, 8, 282-305. doi: 10.4236/ojmn.2018.83024.