Could assessment of glioma methylene lipid resonance by in vivo H-1-MRS be of clinical value?
The potential clinical role of in vivo H-1-MRS (H-1-magnetic resonance spectroscopy) lipid methylene resonance measurements of human glioma has been assessed. 20 patients, 14 with low grade and 6 with high grade gliomas have been investigated using single voxel H-1-MRS. Three of the low grade group had undergone transformation by clinical and imaging criteria. Short echo time (TE=20 ms, TR=2500 ms) single voxel Stimulated Echo Acquisition (STEAM) spectra with (acquisitions =64) and without (acquisitions = 4) water suppression were acquired. Additionally, T-1 weighted (T1W) water spectra (TE=20 ms, TR=888 ms) were acquired pre- and post-injection of Gd-DTPA (0.2 mmol kg(-1)). The T1W water spectra were used to determine the water proton enhancement occurring within the spectroscopic voxel. The enhancement expressed as a percentage was compared with the lipid methylene peak. All the high grade tumours had significantly higher levels of lipid than low grade tumours (p=0.002). Low grade tu
