• Nihaal Reddy, David W Ellison, Bruno P Soares, Kathryn A Carson, Huisman Thierry A G M TAGM 0000-0003-2302-6724 Division of Pediatric Radiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology, and Zoltan Patay.
• Division of Pediatric Radiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
• J Neuroimaging. 2020 Jul 1; 30 (4): 503-511.

Background And PurposeThe molecular groups WNT activated (WNT), Sonic hedgehog activated (SHH), group 3, and group 4 are biologically and clinically distinct forms of medulloblastoma. We evaluated apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values' utility in differentiating/predicting medulloblastoma groups at the initial diagnostic imaging evaluation and prior to surgery.MethodsWe retrospectively measured the ADC values of the enhancing, solid portion of the tumor (EST) and of the whole tumor (WT) and performed Kruskal-Wallis testing to compare the absolute tumor ADC values and cerebellar and thalamic ratios of three medulloblastoma groups (WNT, SHH, and group 3/group 4 combined).ResultsNinety-three children (65 males) were included. Fifty-seven children had group 3/group 4, 27 had SHH, and 9 had WNT medulloblastomas. The median absolute ADC values in the EST and WT were .719 × 10-3 and .864 × 10-3 mm2 /s for group 3/group 4; .660 × 10-3 and .965 × 10-3 mm2 /s for SHH; and .594 × 10-3 and .728 × 10-3 mm2 /s for WNT medulloblastomas (P = .02 and .13). The median ratio of ADC values in the EST or the WT to normal cerebellar tissue was highest for group 3/group 4 and lowest for WNT medulloblastomas (P = .03 and .09), with similar results in pairwise comparisons of the corresponding thalamic ADC values (P = .02 and .06).ConclusionADC analysis of a tumor's contrast-enhancing solid portion may aid preoperative molecular classification/prediction of pediatric medulloblastomas and may facilitate optimal surgical treatment planning, reducing surgery-induced morbidity.© 2020 American Society of Neuroimaging.

25 keywords...

hide…