Objective: To identify the correlation between magnetic resonance manifestation and survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
Methods: The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images of 30 glioblastoma patients were collected. Imaging features including degrees of contrasted area, edema surrounding the tumor, and intensity in T2-weighted imaging were selected to determine their correlation with patient survival. The relationship between imaging and survival time was studied using SPSS 19.0 software. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank test were used to compare the survival curves.
Results: Patients with ≤5% contrasted enhancement area of tumor had longer overall survival (OS) than those with >5% contrasted enhancement area of tumor. Patients without edema surrounding the tumor had longer OS than those with edema. Patients with tumor of hyperintensity and/or isointensity in T2-weighted imaging had longer OS than those with hyperintensity and/or isointensity and hypointensity.
Conclusions: Some MR imaging features including degrees of contrasted area, edema surrounding the tumor, and intensity in T2-weighted imaging are correlated with the survival of patients with GBM. These features can serve as prognostic indicators for GBM patients.
Keywords: diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; glioblastoma multiforme; survival.