Cross-Sectional Study for the Detection of Glioblastoma on Spectroscopy with Histopathology as Gold Standard

Abstract

Objectives: Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive brain tumors. Patients with GBM typically experience an irreversible return of the disease despite receiving multimodal treatment including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. GBMs typically exhibit poor vascularization and fast cell growth, which frequently results in tumor regions with insufficient oxygen supply. This study's goal is to ascertain, using histopathology as the gold standard, the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in the diagnosis of glioblastoma.

Methods: 83 participants were engaged in this six-month cross-sectional descriptive study that was carried out at the Department of Radiology, Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad. For each of these individuals, a single voxel approach was used for MR spectroscopy. To locate the lesion, post-contrast conventional MR imaging was first performed. A voxel was then placed on the region of interest. The pathology department at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad received specimens from patients undergoing intracranial biopsies for histopathological investigation. The results of the MRS were then compared with the histopathology report.

Results: The patients' average age was 52.2±12.6 years. 34 females (51%), and 49 males (59%) were present. The average length of the illness was 2.0±1.7 years, and the average lesion size was 54.3±26.9 mm. The results of MR spectroscopy diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of glioblastoma were 91.5%, with sensitivity being 90.7%, specificity being 94.4%, positive predictive value being 98.3%, negative predictive value being 73.9%.

Conclusion: To sum up, this study showed that magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a valuable tool for glioblastoma diagnosis.