Intracranial ganglioglioma: MR, CT, and clinical findings in 18 patients

Abstract

Eighteen cases of pathologically proved intracranial gangliogliomas were reviewed to determine their MR, CT, and clinical characteristics. Seventeen patients were evaluated with contrast-enhanced CT and 14 were studied by MR imaging. Eight tumors were predominantly cystic; half of these demonstrated some contrast enhancement, and five contained calcifications. These cystic gangliogliomas were located, in order of decreasing frequency, in the cerebellum, temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes. Ten tumors were solid; eight of these showed contrast enhancement, and only one contained calcifications. Small cysts were present in one solid mass. Solid gangliogliomas occurred preferentially in the temporal lobes. On MR, the findings were nonspecific and reflected the CT findings. In one patient who received gadolinium-DTPA the lesion did not enhance. Clinically, all patients presented with nonfocal long-standing symptoms and all but three were alive an average of 18 months after the initial diagnosis. Pathologists are recognizing ganglioglioma with increasing frequency, and although its radiographic characteristics vary, it should be included in the differential diagnosis when the above-described findings are encountered.