Abstract #2176

Analysis of Brain Tumors and Metastases by Quantitative MT Imaging with BSSFP: Initial Experiences

Meritxell Garcia¹, Monika Gloor², Christoph Stippich¹, Felix Jax¹, Klaus Scheffler², Oliver Bieri²

¹Department of Neuroradiology, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland; ²Radiological Physics, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

The efficacy of quantitative MT (qMT) imaging for characterization of benign and malignant brain lesions is analyzed with balanced steady-state free precession. Eleven patients with 3 different lesions (4 glioblastoma multiforme, 4 meningeomas and 3 metastases) were investigated on a clinical 1.5T MR-scanner. MT-effects are described in terms of MTR, relaxation times (T1, T2), MT exchange rate (kf) and the macromolecular content (F). Marked divergences between contrast-enhancing regions, edema and normal-appearing brain were found within and between the different lesions, which might be attributed to differences in edema, cell infiltration and myelin properties. Thus, qMT-imaging might play a major role in adding information for diagnostic tumor characterization.