Anaplastic Astrocytoma

A 51 year old woman sought medical attention because of gradually increasing right hemiparesis (weakness) and hemianopia (visual loss). At craniotomy (8/90), left parietal anaplastic astrocytoma was found. A right frontal lesion was biopsied in 8/94. Recurrent tumor was suspected on the basis of the imaging, and was confirmed pathologically. Total images available: 1,045. All have been brought into registration using Superpose.

Note particularly:

  • the evolution of high tumor Thallium uptake, indicating astrocytoma recurrence. This can best be appreciated by choosing the Thallium study (with the thick tickmark for overlay) and then clicking the "time" button.
  • the large region of mixed signal on T2- and PD- weighted MR, only a subset of which actually corresponds to active tumor.

Tours:

Some details have been altered to protect confidentiality.
Keith A. Johnson (keith@bwh.harvard.edu), J. Alex Becker (jabecker@mit.edu)