CT findings and glucocorticoid receptors in intracranial lesions with edema.

Glucocorticoid receptors were measured in the surgical specimens of 19 intracranial tumors and one brain confusion. None of the patients had received any steroid treatment prior to the operation. Preoperative computed tomography (CT) scans of these patients were evaluated with respect to attenuation values, contrast enhancement, volume of the tumor and edema, and the other characteristics. These various findings were plotted against the amount of glucocorticoid receptors. There was some correlation between the amount of receptor and attenuation as well as contrast enhancement of the tumor. No definite correlation between the volume of edema and/or size of the tumor and the amount of receptor was found in the material taken in its entirety. However, in two tumor groups, namely meningiomas with marked edema and circumscribed, discrete gliomas, a tendency toward a high amount of glucocorticoid receptors was observed. The positive correlation with contrast enhancement, reinforced by reports in the literature that contrast enhancement is affected by steroids, corroborates the theory that the steroid-receptor interaction plays an important role in the vascular permeability of tumors.