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Role of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Differentiation of Glioblastomas from Solitary Brain Metastases

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Tumors of the Central Nervous System, Volume 2

Part of the book series: Tumors of the Central Nervous System ((TCNS,volume 2))

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Abstract

Differentiation between glioblastomas and solitary brain metastases is an important clinical problem as the treatment strategy can significantly differ depending on the tumor type. However, due to their similar appearance on conventional magnetic resonance imaging, accurate distinction between glioblastomas and brain metastases remains challenging and often necessitates an invasive surgical biopsy for a definitive diagnosis. Recently, diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) has been applied in solving this problem and has demonstrated potential as a noninvasive imaging biomarker to differentiate glioblastomas from solitary brain metastases. This chapter provides a brief review on the fundamental concepts of DTI and how this new imaging method can be applied in differentiation between glioblastomas and solitary brain metastases. It also includes discussions on some practical issue to further improve the reliability of the method and potential metrics sensitive to tumor that can be derived from DTI data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Sumei Wang, Harish Poptani & Elias R. Melhem

  2. Department of Radiology, Center for Biomedical Imaging, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Sungheon Kim

Authors
  1. Sumei Wang
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  2. Harish Poptani
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  3. Elias R. Melhem
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  4. Sungheon Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sungheon Kim .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Kean University, Room 213, Library building, Morris Avenue 1000, Union, 07083, New Jersey, USA

    M.A. Hayat

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Wang, S., Poptani, H., Melhem, E.R., Kim, S. (2011). Role of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Differentiation of Glioblastomas from Solitary Brain Metastases. In: Hayat, M. (eds) Tumors of the Central Nervous System, Volume 2. Tumors of the Central Nervous System, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0618-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0618-7_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0617-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0618-7

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