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The article examines the magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion techniques and its potential benefits in the context of the diagnosis, staging, therapeutic response and prognosis in patients who have intracranial tumours. The two major MR methods that have been developed and applied to the assessment of brain perfusion are Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast (DSC) imaging and Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL). It cites that the implementation of individual patient quantitation when utilizing the DSC method may result to improve clinical utility by minimisation of normal variation and increase in pathological specificity. It suggests further study in the form of well controlled, large scale clinical studies are needed to assure the pathology-specific imaging efficacy of DSC and ASL techniques.

Low grade gliomas (WHO grade II) are diffuse, infiltrative glial tumours of the brain. The low grade glioma group includes a number of entities, namely diffuse astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma and oligoastrocytoma. This group of the low-grade gliomas share certain common issues of behaviour, clinical assessment and management. Even though these tumours are termed low grade they are not to be considered "benign": untreated they are invariably fatal. They may remain "stable" for many years and hence a "watch and wait" treatment policy is often adopted. Unfortunately some tumours progress more rapidly than others with dedifferentiation into high grade tumours which become rapidly fatal. Based on standard imaging criteria it has been difficult to predict which of these low grade gliomas will progress more rapidly. Treatment decisions would benefit from some prediction as to which tumours are likely to progress more rapidly than others. This review will discuss some of the imaging features that may help to predict which low grade gliomas will progress more rapidly than others. Such imaging features include the rate of growth on serial imaging; the morphological features that parallel genetic markers; the assessment and change of tumour vascular status as assessed by MR perfusion imaging and tumour characteristics on PET and MR spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]