Neurosurgical review
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Neurosurgical review · Jul 2018
Review Meta AnalysisCan MRI predict meningioma consistency?: a correlation with tumor pathology and systematic review.
Tumor consistency is a critical factor that influences operative strategy and patient counseling. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) describes the concentration of water within living tissues and as such, is hypothesized to predict aspects of their biomechanical behavior. In meningiomas, MRI signal intensity has been used to predict the consistency of the tumor and its histopathological subtype, though its predictive capacity is debated in the literature. ⋯ Preoperative knowledge of tumor firmness affords the neurosurgeon substantial benefit when planning surgical techniques. Based upon our review of the literature, we currently recommend the use of T2-weighted MRI for predicting consistency, which has been shown to correlate well with analysis of tumor histological subtype. Development of standard measures of tumor consistency, standard MRI quantification metrics, and further exploration of MRI technique may improve the predictive ability of neuroimaging for meningiomas.