Neoplastic meningitis MRI
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sujit Routray, M.D. [2]
Overview
Brain MRI is helpful in the diagnosis of neoplastic meningitis. On MRI, neoplastic meningitis is characterized by normal T1- and T2-weighted images. On contrast administration, there may be leptomeningeal enhancement scattered over the brain in a ‘sugar coated’ manner, which is fairly diagnostic for neoplastic meningitis.[1]
MRI [2]
- Brain MRI is helpful in the diagnosis of neoplastic meningitis with sensitivity and specificity estimated to be around 66-98% and 77-97.7% respectively.
- The most sensitive MRI component are contrast-enhanced T1 weight and fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences.
- Findings that are fairly suggestive of neoplastic meningitis include nodular meningeal tumor, meningeal thickening > 3 mm, and a subjectively strong contrast enhancement. A smooth contrast enhancement of the meninges is typical for inflammatory, nonneoplastic meningitis.[3]
- On MRI, neoplastic meningitis is characterized by:[1]
| MRI component | Findings |
|---|---|
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T1 |
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T2 |
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T1 with contrast |
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Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery |
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Radiographic features of leptomeningeal metastases. Dr Bruno Di Muzio and A.Prof Frank Gaillard et al. Radiopaedia 2016. http://radiopaedia.org/articles/leptomeningeal-metastases. Accessed on January 19, 2016
- ↑ Pellerino, Alessia (March 2018). “Neoplastic meningitis in solid tumors: from diagnosis to personalized treatments”. Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders. 11.
- ↑ Diagnosis of neoplastic meningitis. Wikipedia 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplastic_meningitis. Accessed on January 20, 2016
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