Astroblastoma: diffusion MRI, and proton MR spectroscopy

A patient with grade II astroblastoma is reported. The tumor revealed an inhomogenous enhancement pattern on T1-weighted images after contrast medium. It contained cyst-like structures with high signal in FLAIR images, consistent with presence of viscous material. In spectroscopy, NAA was decreased, and Cho was increased. Peaks belonging to lipids and a combined broad peak belonging to myoinositol and glycine were noticed. In diffusion MRI, the mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of intratumoral cyst-like structures was 2.12×10 −3 mm 2/s less than that of CSF. The matrix of the tumor had lower ADC values ranging from 1.19 to 1.25×10 −3 mm 2/s, higher than that of normal cerebral parenchyma.