Can FLAIR Aid the Differentiation between Glioma and Metastasis?
GROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the diagnostic utility of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) in differentiating between glioma and metastasis by assessing for nonenhancing adjacent cortical signal intensity abnormality in patients who present with a solitary enhancing cerebral lesion. METHODS: After approval from the institutional ethics committee was obtained, the MR imaging studies of 70 patients with a solitary enhancing lesion, without previous surgery or treatment, were reviewed. The axial FLAIR studies were initially reviewed for cortical involvement. If cortex involvement was detected, comparison with the axial T1, with and without gadolinium enhancement, was made to determine whether the cortex involvement was in an area without enhancement. If this was the case, the study was considered positive for glioma. Statistical analysis consisted of binary logistic regression and a 2 x 2 contingency table. RESULTS: Involvement of the adjacent co
