Super-Resolution Whole-Brain 3D MR Spectroscopic Imaging for Mapping D-2-Hydroxyglutarate and Tumor Metabolism in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1-mutated Human Gliomas

Background Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations are highly frequent in glioma, producing high levels of the oncometabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG). Hence, D-2HG represents a valuable imaging marker for IDH-mutated human glioma. Purpose To develop and evaluate a super-resolution three-dimensional (3D) MR spectroscopic imaging strategy to map D-2HG and tumor metabolism in IDH-mutated human glioma. Materials and Methods Between March and September 2018, participants with IDH1-mutated gliomas and healthy participants were prospectively scanned with a 3-T whole-brain 3D MR spectroscopic imaging protocol optimized for D-2HG. The acquired D-2HG maps with a voxel size of 5.2 × 5.2 × 12 mm were upsampled to a voxel size of 1.7 × 1.7 × 3 mm using a super-resolution method that combined weighted total variation, feature-based nonlocal means, and high-spatial-resolution anatomic imaging priors. Validation with simulated healthy and patient data and phantom measurements was also performed. The Mann-Whitney test was used to check that the proposed super-resolution technique yields the highest peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity index. Results Three participants with IDH1-mutated gliomas (mean age, 50 years ± 21 [standard deviation]; two men) and three healthy participants (mean age, 32 years ± 3; two men) were scanned. Twenty healthy participants (mean age, 33 years ± 5; 16 men) underwent a simulation of upsampled MR spectroscopic imaging. Super-resolution upsampling improved peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity index by 62% ( < .05) and 7.3% ( < .05), respectively, for simulated data when compared with spline interpolation. Correspondingly, the proposed method significantly improved tissue contrast and structural information for the acquired 3D MR spectroscopic imaging data. Conclusion High-spatial-resolution whole-brain D-2-hydroxyglutarate imaging is possible in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1-mutated human glioma by using a super-resolution framework to upsample three-dimensional MR spectroscopic images acquired at lower resolution. © RSNA, 2020 See also the editorial by Huang and Lin in this issue.