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Advanced MR diffusion tensor imaging and perfusion weighted imaging of intramedullary tumors and tumor like lesions in the cervicomedullary junction region and the cervical spinal cord

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Abstract

Differential diagnosis between intramedullary tumors and tumor-like lesions (TLL) in the cervicomedullary junction region and cervical spinal cord is important, sometimes clinical dilemma on conventional MR imaging and empirical treatment. We evaluated advanced MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) in 25 patients, including 12 with intramedullary tumors and 13 with TLL in the cervicomedullary junction region and cervical spinal cord. We found that mean fractional anisotropy value of tumors was significantly lower than the value found in TLL, and the mean trace apparent diffusion coefficient and peak height values of tumors were significantly higher (P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that peak height was better than any of the other imaging parameters, with a sensitivity of 90.9 % and specificity of 80 % using a cutoff value of 4.523 to differentiate between tumors and TLL. In conclusion, the MR DTI and PWI could be useful in differentiating between intramedullary tumors and TLL in the cervicomedullary junction region and cervical spinal cord.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

This is an Institutional Review Board—approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability compliant study. The need to obtain informed consent was waived.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Xiang Liu, Wei Tian, Balasubramanya Kolar, Rui Hu, Yuqing Huang, Jason Huang & Sven Ekholm

Authors
  1. Xiang Liu
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  2. Wei Tian
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  3. Balasubramanya Kolar
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  4. Rui Hu
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  5. Yuqing Huang
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  6. Jason Huang
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  7. Sven Ekholm
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiang Liu.

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Liu, X., Tian, W., Kolar, B. et al. Advanced MR diffusion tensor imaging and perfusion weighted imaging of intramedullary tumors and tumor like lesions in the cervicomedullary junction region and the cervical spinal cord. J Neurooncol 116, 559–566 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-013-1323-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-013-1323-z

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