Purpose: To assess the utility of magnetic resonance (MR) cerebral blood volume (CBV) maps in the evaluation of gliomas.
Materials and methods: CBV maps from 19 patients with histologically proved gliomas were calculated from dynamic MR image sets acquired with echo-planar spin-echo imaging after intravenous injection of gadolinium-based contrast material.
Results: The maximum CBV varied from 0.82 to 5.40 in the high-grade group (n = 13) and from 1.01 to 1.21 in the low-grade group (n = 6). The difference was statistically significant. Maximum CBV was associated with mitotic activity and vascularity, but not with cellular atypia, endothelial proliferation, necrosis, or cellularity.
Conclusion: MR CBV maps provided diagnostic information not available with conventional MR imaging in six cases and offers a functional parameter for assessing glioma grade and regions of focal activity.