DETECTION OF METABOLIC HETEROGENEITY OF HUMAN INTRACRANIAL TUMORS INVIVO BY H-1-NMR SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING

Patients with intracranial tumors (gliomas) were examined by means of localized water‐suppressed 1H NMR single volume spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging. The 1H NMR spectra of the tumors exhibit signal intensities of the N‐acetyl aspartate, choline compounds, and creatine plus phosphocreatine resonance lines that are different from the corresponding intensities observed on normal brain tissue. Also, for 6 out of the 10 patients examined so far, lactate resonance lines were detected in the tumor spectra. For one patient, abnormal 1H NMR spectra were obtained of a hemisphere which appeared normal with 1H NMR imaging. Metabolic heterogeneity of the tumorous regions could be demonstrated with 1H NMR spectroscopic imaging, using a spatial resolution in the order of 1 cm. These results suggest a spectrum of metabolic observations that may ultimately provide an important means for characterizing brain tumors. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company