Abstract
A brain mass lesion can have a myriad of etiologies and may present acutely or be of insidious onset. Symptoms are related to the lesion location, degree of tissue swelling, and rapidity of its onset. Neoplasms can arise from a variety of structures, including glial and neuronal cells, the meninges, ventricular elements, and gland tissue; furthermore, a number of somatic metastases may spread to the brain. Clinical neuroradiology plays an important role by considering non-neoplastic space occupying brain lesions, ranging from infectious processes (encephalitis, cerebritis, cerebral abscess) to tumefactive demyelination, vascular (arterial and venous infarction), autoimmune (sarcoidosis, Ig4 disease, vasculitis), toxic-metabolic and transient (e.g., postictal swelling) conditions. Tumor mimics are often, but not always identifiable through pattern recognition, using a combination of structural MR imaging sequences and advanced techniques, including follow-up radiological techniques where appropriate. Advanced imaging techniques can provide physiological and quantifiable data to aid the distinction of nonneoplastic disease from tumors, as well as the characterization of different brain tumor types. Nonneoplastic entities are discussed in depth in other chapters of this book, but will be briefly addressed where these are relevant in terms of morphological similarities.
This publication is endorsed by: European Society of Neuroradiology (www.esnr.org).
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Abbreviations
- ACRIN:
-
American College of Radiology Imaging Network
- ADC:
-
Apparent Diffusion Coefficient
- APT:
-
Amide Proton Transfer
- ASL:
-
Arterial Spin Labeling
- BOLD:
-
Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent
- CEST:
-
Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer
- Cho:
-
Choline
- [11C] Choline:
-
Carbon-11-Choline
- CNS:
-
Classification of central nervous system
- Cr:
-
Creatine
- CSF:
-
Cerebrospinal fluid
- CT:
-
Computed Tomography
- DCE:
-
Dynamic Contrast Enhanced
- DOTA:
-
1,4,7,10-Tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-Tetraacetic acid
- DTI:
-
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
- DSC:
-
Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast
- DWI:
-
Diffusion Weighted Imaging
- EORTC:
-
European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer
- [18F] choline:
-
8F-Fluorinated Choline
- [18F] FDG:
-
Fluorodeoxyglucose F 18
- FDOPA:
-
[18F]-Dehydroxyphenylalanine
- FET:
-
[18F] Fluoroethyl-L-Tyrosine
- FLAIR:
-
Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery
- fMRI:
-
Functional MRI
- Gad:
-
Gadolinium
- 68Ga-DOTATOC:
-
68Gallium-DOTA-Tyr3-Octreotide
- Glx:
-
Glutamate/Glutamine
- HIV:
-
Human Immunodeficiency Viruses
- ITSS:
-
Intratumoral Susceptibility Signal
- K trans :
-
Transfer Coefficient
- MET:
-
[11C]Methionine
- MI:
-
Myo-Inositol
- MRI:
-
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- MRS:
-
MR spectroscopy
- NAA:
-
N-Acetyl Aspartate
- NBTS:
-
United States National Brain Tumor Society
- PCNSL:
-
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
- PET:
-
Positron-Emission Tomography
- PNET:
-
Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor
- ppm:
-
Parts per million
- PWI:
-
Perfusion-weighted MRI
- PXA:
-
Pleomorphic XanthoAstrocytoma
- QUIBA:
-
Quantitative Biomarkers Alliance
- rCBF:
-
Relative Cerebral Blood Flow
- rCBV:
-
Relative Cerebral Blood Volume
- T1w:
-
T1-weighted images
- T2w:
-
T2-weighted images
- TE:
-
Echo Time
- TNM:
-
Tumor, node, metastasis
- Ve:
-
Extravascular extracellular space
- Vp:
-
Plasma volume
- WHO:
-
World Health Organisation
- 3D:
-
Volumetric
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Alentorn A, Hoang-Xuan K, Mikkelsen T. Presenting signs and symptoms in brain tumors. Handb Clin Neurol. 2016;134:19–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-802997-8.00002-5.
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Suh CH, Kim HS, Jung SC, Choi CG, Kim SJMRI. Findings in Tumefactive demyelinating lesions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2018;39(9):1643–9. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A5775.
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Pizzini, F.B., Thust, S., Jäger, R. (2019). Clinical Presentations, Differential Diagnosis, and Imaging Work-Up of Cerebral Mass Lesions. In: Barkhof, F., Jager, R., Thurnher, M., Rovira Cañellas, A. (eds) Clinical Neuroradiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61423-6_56-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61423-6_56-1
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Latest
Clinical Presentations, Differential Diagnosis, and Imaging Workup of Cerebral Mass Lesions- Published:
- 27 September 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61423-6_56-2
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Clinical Presentations, Differential Diagnosis, and Imaging Work-Up of Cerebral Mass Lesions- Published:
- 11 April 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61423-6_56-1