A comparison of the multimodal magnetic resonance imaging features of brain metastases vs. high-grade gliomas

Objective: We aimed to explore the multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of brain metastases and high-grade brain gliomas. Methods: Fifty patients with brain metastases and 28 patients with highgrade gliomas treated in the neurosurgery department of our hospital were selected for this study. All patients underwent routine MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The average diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA), regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), and regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) in the tumor parenchyma, peritumoral edema area, and the contralateral normal cerebral white matter were compared between the patients with brain metastases and the patients with high-grade brain gliomas. Results: There were differences in the degree of peritumoral edema between the two groups of patients (P = 0.017). Compared with the patients with high-grade gliomas, the patients with brain metastases had lower FA values in the tumor parenchyma area, higher ADC values in the peritumoral edema area, and lower rCBV and rCBF values in the peritumoral edema area (all P<0.001). Conclusion: The measurement of the ADC, rCBV, and rCBF values in the peritumoral edema area and the FA values in the tumor parenchyma area using multimodal MRI can have essential clinical value in the differentiation between brain metastases and high-grade gliomas.