Abstract
Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the imaging features of medulloblastoma
(MB) and correlate the MR characteristics with the different histological subtype
of MB with 2-year survival. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study. A total of 29 patients diagnosed with
MB from January 2005 to December 2015 were included in this study. The MRI brain and
spine studies of these patients were retrieved and reviewed by a pediatric radiologist
and a neuroradiologist independently, both blinded from the histological type of the
MB. The HPE slides were also retrieved and reviewed by a pathologist. Results: 80% of desmoplastic MB showed the presence of intracranial leptomeningeal seeding
and 57.1% of anaplastic MB showed the presence of necrosis. The presence of intracranial
leptomeningeal seeding (P = 0.002) and necrosis (P = 0.019) was predictive of the histological subtypes. There is a significant correlation
between the enhancement pattern and the 2-year outcome (P = 0.03) with 6 out of 8 patients whose tumors showed minimal enhancement having disease
progression within 2 years. A significant correlation was also seen between the presence
of necrosis with a poorer outcome (P = 0.03) and between the HPE subtype and 2-year outcome (P = 0.03) with anaplastic MB having the poorest prognosis. Conclusion: MR imaging features of intracranial leptomeningeal seeding and the presence of necrosis
were correlated with a specific histologic subtype of MB. The enhancement pattern
as well as necrosis correlated with 2-year poorer outcome of the disease.
Keywords
Medulloblastoma - MRI - survival
