Ex vivo tissue imaging for radiology–pathology correlation: a pilot study with a small bore 7-T MRI in a rare pigmented ganglioglioma exhibiting complex MR signal characteristics associated with melanin and hemosiderin

Kant M. Matsuda M.D.; Ana Lopes-Calcas; Michael L. Honke; Zoe O’Brien-Moran; Richard Buist; Michael West; Melanie Martin

doi:10.1117/1.JMI.4.3.036001

13 September 2017 <Ex vivo tissue imaging for radiology–pathology correlation: a pilot study with a small bore 7-T MRI in a rare pigmented ganglioglioma exhibiting complex MR signal characteristics associated with melanin and hemosiderin

Kant M. Matsuda M.D., Ana Lopes-Calcas, Michael L. Honke, Zoe O’Brien-Moran, Richard Buist, Michael West, Melanie Martin

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Journal of Medical Imaging, Vol. 4, Issue 3, 036001 (September 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMI.4.3.036001

Abstract

To advance magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies further for in vivo tissue characterization with histopathologic validation, we investigated the feasibility of ex vivo tissue imaging of a surgically removed human brain tumor as a comprehensive approach for radiology–pathology correlation in histoanatomically identical fashion in a rare case of pigmented ganglioglioma with complex paramagnetic properties. Pieces of surgically removed ganglioglioma, containing melanin and hemosiderin pigments, were imaged with a small bore 7-T MRI scanner to obtain T1-, T2-, and T2*-weighted image and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Corresponding histopathological slides were prepared for routine hematoxylin and eosin stain and special stains for melanin and iron/hemosiderin to correlate with MRI signal characteristics. Furthermore, mean diffusivity (MD) maps were generated from DTI data and correlated with cellularity using image analysis. While the presence of melanin was difficult to interpret in in vivo MRI with certainty due to concomitant hemosiderin pigments and calcium depositions, ex vivo tissue imaging clearly demonstrated pieces of tissue exhibiting the characteristic MR signal pattern for melanin with pathologic confirmation in a histoanatomically identical location. There was also concordant correlation between MD and cellularity. Although it is still in an initial phase of development, ex vivo tissue imaging is a promising approach, which offers radiology–pathology correlation in a straightforward and comprehensive manner.

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Kant M. Matsuda M.D., Ana Lopes-Calcas, Michael L. Honke, Zoe O’Brien-Moran, Richard Buist, Michael West, and Melanie Martin "<Ex vivo tissue imaging for radiology–pathology correlation: a pilot study with a small bore 7-T MRI in a rare pigmented ganglioglioma exhibiting complex MR signal characteristics associated with melanin and hemosiderin," Journal of Medical Imaging 4(3), 036001 (13 September 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMI.4.3.036001

Received: 31 March 2017; Accepted: 9 August 2017; Published: 13 September 2017

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