PET-MRI Hybrid Imaging in the Diagnosis of Glioma

Purpose:
Glioma is the most common malignant type of brain tumor. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used as one of the first techniques for imaging and diagnosing of glioma. Despite inherent soft tissue contrast of MRI, it has limitations such as the inability to grade the tumor, determine tumor changes after treatment, and show tumor recurrence. On the other hand, positron emission tomography (PET) can provide useful biochemical and molecular information. By combining these two imaging modalities, we can use both methods advantages. This study aims to review PET-MRI hybrid imaging in the diagnosis of glioma.
Methods:
We searched various keywords such as PET- MRI, hybrid imaging, glioma, and brain tumors in search engines such as Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The data from the extracted articles related to the topic were reviewed.
Results:
PET-MRI provides the excellent soft tissue contrast of MRI and the information on the metabolism and activity of tumors from PET imaging. Hybrid imaging by combining PET and MRI has a better function in diagnosing glioma and determining the spread of the tumor than contrast-enhanced MRI. PET-MRI shows a higher accuracy in the diagnosis of glioma than the single imaging modalities. PET-MRI reduces the need for invasive methods for the tumor diagnosis and provides supplementary information to differentiate between high- grade and low-grade glioma.
Conclusion:
PET-MRI is a promising technique in diagnosing glioma and reducing the invasive methods, which gives us the benefits of both imaging modalities.
Keywords: PET-MRI, Hybrid imaging, Glioma, Brain tumors