What are the examination methods for glioma

Gliomas are a type of brain tumor with very special tumor cell origin, pathological structure, biological characteristics and clinical symptoms. Brain tumor cells have a strong affinity for brain tissue and are one of the few terminal malignant brain tumors in humans. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are necessary. What are the examination methods for gliomas?

1. Plain skull radiographs: Conventional plain skull radiographs have limited role in the diagnosis of brain tumors. They may show bone resorption, enlarged sella turcica (suggesting pituitary adenoma) or "empty sella turcica". They may also show osteolytic or striatal metastasis of the calvaria and skull changes caused by other tumors, such as meningioma, chordoma, acoustic neuroma, and paranasal sinus tumors. Abnormal calcifications in the skull (especially craniopharyngioma and slow-growing oligoglial cells and astrocytomas) may also be seen.

2. Head CT examination: CT is one of the basic tools for screening and diagnosing intracranial tumors.

3. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): MRI is superior to any previous technology in displaying normal anatomy. MRI can detect pituitary microadenomas earlier than CT and is one of the means to detect small intracranial tumors and vascular malformations at an early stage.

4. Positron emission tomography (PET): PET is a diagnostic method using positron-carrying radioisotope drugs. Depending on the requirements for the nature of the information, PET uses several different radiopharmaceuticals. The most commonly used one for brain tumors is 18F-deoxyglucose (FDG), which is a minor substance that enters surviving cells. PET brain imaging shows that FDG can be used to examine many aspects of brain tumors: (1) Measuring the metabolic activity of tumors. In addition to providing the degree of benign or malignant tumors, PET also has the function of predicting patient prognosis. (2) PET has been used to examine residual tumors in monkeys and detect tumor progression. (3) For recurrent tumors, PET is a useful examination tool. It is useful for detecting malignant transformation of low-grade (low-metabolism) tumors. (4) Tumor recurrence can be distinguished from radionecrosis. CT and MRI lack the value of distinguishing between radionecrosis and tumor recurrence or remnants, but PET has the ability to distinguish between these lesions and can also be used to distinguish between chemical necrosis and tumors.

5. DSA examination: MRI and CT scans have reduced the use of angiography, but angiography can still be used to observe the blood supply and drainage vessels of the tumor. In addition, the blood vessels supplying the tumor can be embolized to facilitate surgical treatment.

6. Electroencephalogram (EEG): It is not very useful clinically, but can be used for tumor screening.

7. Lumbar puncture: Except for the diffuse type, examination of cerebrospinal fluid is rarely used to detect intracranial tumors.