Application Value of 3.0-T Multivoxel (1)H-MR Spectroscopy in the Peritumoral Tissue of Brain Astrocytic Tumors.

Objective: This study aimed to explore metabolic features in the peritumoral tissue of different-rank brain astrocytic tumors using multivoxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) and to estimate its application value in the MRS quantitative ratio of brain astrocytic tumors. Materials and Methods: A total of 82 patients with brain astrocytic tumors, confirmed by postoperative pathological evaluation, were divided into low-grade astrocytic tumors [World Health Organization (WHO) grade I-II; 32 cases] and high-grade astrocytic tumors (WHO grade III-IV; 50 cases). The semi-quantitative and relative quantitative metabolite ratios of the parenchyma area, peritumoral tissue area, and normal area were measured. The P value was set as <0.05. Results: The relative quantitative ratios of choline (Cho)/creatine (Cr) and Cho/N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) significantly differed in the peritumoral tissues of the high-grade astrocytic tumors and low-grade astrocytic tumors (P < 0.05), but NAA/Cr showed no significant difference. Conclusions: The changes in the metabolite ratio of the peritumoral tissue area in brain astrocytic tumors reflect the biological behavior of different tumors. They have a significant clinical value in classifying brain astrocytic tumors and indicating the scope of invasion.