Comparison of Positron Emission Tomography(PET) and CT/MRI Findings and Correlation with Histopathology in a Case of Glioblastoma: Case Report

ABSTRACT

Computed tomography(CT) and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) facilitated detection and accurate localization of brain tumors, however, have limitation in predicting the physiologic nature of tumors or the extent of tumor cell infiltration. The PET with [18 F] fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG) can give complementary information by measuring glucose consumption. It was reported that PET was useful for differentiation between recurrent tumor and necrosis, detection of early recurrence, and prediction of the degree of malignancy. Also it can evaluate the metabolic status to dfferent areas in a lesion with heterogeneous components, and be useful for optimal targeting in stereotactic biopsy. We performed stereotactic biopsy of a glioblastoma, obtained multiple specimens from different sites, and investigated correlation between histopathological findings and the findings in CT, MRI, and PET. The histopathological findings such as cell density and presence of microscopic necrosis were well correlated with the metabolic status measured by PET. The extent of the area involved by infiltrating tumor cells was estimated more approximately by PET they by CT or MRI. These findings suggest that PET may give additional information which may be useful for diagnosis and evaluation of the disease.