RESUMO
RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Classifying brain tumors is challenging, but recently developed imaging techniques offer the opportunity for neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons to diagnose, differentiate, and manage different types of brain tumors. Such advances will be reflected in improvements in patients' life expectancy and quality of life. Among the newest techniques, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), which tracks the rate of microscopic water diffusion within tissues, has become a focus of investigation. Recently, ADC has been used as a preoperative diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameter that facilitates tumor diagnosis and grading. Here, we aimed to determine the ADC cutoff values for pediatric brain tumors (PBTs) categorized according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of brain tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 80 cases, and assessed them based on their MRI-derived ADC. These results were compared with those of WHO classification-based histopathology. RESULTS: Whole-lesion ADC values ranged 0.225-1.240 × 10-3 mm2/s for ependymal tumors, 0.107-1.571 × 10-3 mm2/s for embryonal tumors, 0.1065-2.37801 × 10-3 mm2/s for diffuse astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors, 0.5220-0.7840 × 10-3 mm2/s for other astrocytic tumors, and 0.1530-0.8160 × 10-3 mm2/s for meningiomas. These findings revealed the usefulness of ADC in the differential diagnosis of PBT, as it was able to discriminate between five types of PBTs. CONCLUSION: The application of an ADC diagnostic criterion would reduce the need for spectroscopic analysis. However, further research is needed to implement ADC in the differential diagnosis of PBT.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: As the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnoses in Saudi Arabia has recently increased due to better diagnostic techniques, the incidence of diagnosed HCC metastasis has also increased. Here, we report a case of HCC metastasis to the rib with an initially atypical presentation of mastalgia caused by extrahepatic metastasis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 31-year-old woman with a prior hepatitis B viral infection presented with a mass in the left breast accompanied by mastalgia for a 6-month duration. The patient's liver enzymes were elevated, and her serum α-fetoprotein level was particularly high. Computed tomography of her chest and abdomen showed a soft-tissue mass adhering to the upper chest wall, rib deterioration, and multiple hepatic lesions. A needle biopsy was immunohistochemically analyzed for Glypican-3, Pan-CK, and CK7 and was confirmed to be metastatic HCC. CONCLUSIONS: This metastatic HCC case is unique because it initially presented as mastalgia. We should consider the possibility of metastatic disease when assessing patients with unusual presentations who have risk factors for metastatic carcinoma.
