Relative cerebral blood volume is a measure of angiogenesis in brain tuberculoma

The aim of this study was to correlate the perfusion indices with magnetic resonance imaging-derived cellular and necrotic fraction of the tuberculoma and angiogenesis metrics on histopathology. We performed dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in 13 excised brain tuberculoma patients. Microvascular density and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-expressing cells were quantified from the excised tuberculoma. The cellular and necrotic fractions of the tuberculomas were quantified on a postcontrast T1-weighted imaging. Relative cerebral blood volume of cellular portion significantly correlated with cellular fraction volume (r = 0.882, P < 0.001), microvascular density (r = 0.900, P < 0.001), and VEGF (r = 0.886, P < 0.001) of the 13 excised tuberculomas. Microvascular density also correlated significantly with VEGF (r = 0.919, P < 0.001). Relative cerebral blood volume is a measure of angiogenesis in the cellular fraction of the brain tuberculoma. This information may be of value in predicting the therapeutic response in future.