INTRODUCTION:

Gliomas are the most common primary tumors of the Central Nervous System. Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT) is a functional imaging technique that allows us to access molecular information and differentiate gliomas from each other and from other entities. It depends on the therapeutic strategy to be used and the prognosis in these patients.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the utility of the clinical characteristics of patients on admission and of the brain SPECT with 99mTc-MIBI to differentiate the degree of malignancy of brain gliomas.

Patients and methods: An observational, descriptive and prospective study carried out in patients from "Hermanos Ameijeiras" Hospital and "Calixto García" University Hospital during the period May 2012 to February 2015. The sample consisted of 102 patients with confirmed diagnosis of brain glioma and with study of Brain SPECT with 99mTc-MIBI.

RESULTS:

The main symptoms and signs, as well as the Karnofsky index on admission did not show significant differences regarding the degree of malignancy of the brain gliomas studied. Patients with high-grade gliomas were characterized by an elevation of all tumor indices as well as quantification of activity, volumetric concentration of 99mTc-MIBI for both phases, although more marked for the late phase and retention index. Tumor / contralateral cortex index in late phase showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 98.9%, 94.0%, 63.0%, and 99.0% respectively to differentiate the degree of malignancy of brain gliomas. Late phase / early phase ratio of the tumor / contralateral cortex index showed sensitivity values of 94.1%, specificity of 98.5%, positive predictive value of 98.7%, and negative predictive value of 98.8%. Radiopharmaceutical retention index had a sensitivity of 99%, specificity of 89%, and positive and negative predictive values of 95% and 99% respectively.

CONCLUSION:

The combination of: Tumor / contralateral cortex index in late phase, late phase / early phase ratio of the tumor / contralateral cortex index, and radiopharmaceutical retention index are the most useful parameters for predicting the degree of malignancy of brain gliomas using SPECT with 99mTc-MIBI.

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