Improved diagnostic confidence and tumor type prediction in adult-type diffuse glioma by multimodal imaging including DCE perfusion and diffusion kurtosis mapping – A standardized multicenter study

Background and purpose To evaluate the feasibility of a multimodal approach involving dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) perfusion imaging and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in the preoperative imaging of brain tumors in a multicenter setting, and to evaluate the effect on diagnostic confidence and accuracy for tumor grade and type prediction. Materials and Methods One hundred and thirty-three patients with brain tumors were imaged in six hospitals with a standardized multimodal protocol. Standard imaging and six parameter maps derived from DCE and DKI sequences were reviewed off-site by two independent readers. Image quality and diagnostic confidence were evaluated in qualitative analyses. Quantitative analyses were performed to assess diagnostic accuracy and the performance of DKI and DCE parameters for tumor grade differentiation and molecular tumor type determination. Results Standardized acquisition of DCE and DKI maps was feasible with excellent image quality. Diagnostic confidence was significantly improved from 85 % to 96 % (p = 0.0005) by additional review of the DCE and DKI maps. The combination of mean kurtosis and CBV was particularly advantageous for differentiating low-grade and high-grade glioma, oligodendroglial vs. astrocytic, and IDH1/2 wild type vs. mutated tumors. Conclusion A multimodal imaging approach with DCE and DKI improves diagnostic confidence and yields higher diagnostic accuracy for predicting tumor grade and type in adult-type glioma.