Tumours of the central nervous system. Proton magnetic resonance relaxation times T1 and T2 and histopathologic correlates.

Proton MR relaxation times T1 and T2 were determined in vitro in 136 small specimens of astrocytomas grades I-IV, of oligodendrogliomas, metastases of adenocarcinomas, meningiomas and acoustic neuromas. In addition, 7 samples of peritumoural white matter were analysed. The analysed specimens were studied microscopically in their entirety regarding tumour type and occurrence of necrosis and non-tumour tissue admixture, such as fibrosis and haemorrhage. Most of the gliomas had longer relaxation times than normal white matter and T2 was significantly longer than in the other three tumour groups. The metastases had longer T1 than normal white matter, while T2 varied. The astrocytomas tended to show shorter relaxation times with increasing degree of malignancy, and shortening of T1 and T2 correlating with the proportion of tissue necrosis. Similarly, the metastases with tissue necrosis had shorter T1 and T2 than non-necrotic samples. The meningiomas had T1 values comparable with normal cortex, while the T2 values varied. Tumours containing a large proportion of fibrous tissue had shorter relaxation times than the others. Acoustic neuromas had only slightly longer T1 than normal white matter, while T2 was not prolonged. Both T1 and T2 were significantly shorter than in all other tumours studied. Peritumoural white matter had prolonged relaxation times compared with normal white matter, correlating to increased water content. These in vitro differences regarding relaxation times in various types of tumours of the central nervous system, dependent on various types of tissue alterations, should be of interest for the interpretation of in vivo images.