| خلاصه مقاله | Important points in analyzing potential brain tumors
Since different tumors occur in different age groups we first of all need to know the age of the patient. Next, we need to know where the lesion is located, is it intra- or extra-axial and in what anatomical compartment does it lie? And we should determinate Is it a solitary mass or is there multi-focal disease?
Most brain tumors are of low signal intensity on T1WI and high on T2WI, therefore high signal intensity on T1WI and or low signal on T2WI can be an important clue to the diagnosis! Finally, we have to consider the possibility that we are dealing with a lesion that simulates a tumor - like an abscess, MS-plaque, vascular malformation, aneurysm or an infarct with luxury perfusion.
In adults about 50% of all CNS lesions are metastases and Other common tumors in adults are astrocytoma, GBM, meningioma, oligodendroglioma, pituitary adenomas and schwannoma. Astrocytoma’s occur at any age, but glioblastoma multiform is mostly seen in older people.
the first thing we want to know is whether the mass lies in- or outside of the brain. 80% of the extra-axial lesions will be either a meningioma or a schwannoma. On the other hand, at adults an intra-axial tumor will be a metastasis or astrocytoma in 75% of cases.
Signs of extra-axial lesions include, expand subarachnoid space, Displaced subarachnoid vessels, CSF cleft sign, Cortical gray matter between mass and white matter, Broad dural base and Bony reaction
roughly one-third of CNS tumors are metastatic lesions, one third are gliomas and one-third are of non-glial origin.
Glioma is a non-specific term, indicating that the tumor originates from glial cells like astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, ependymal and choroid plexus cells. |