Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the staging of neuroblastomas according to the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Staging System (INRGSS).Material and methods: In this single-centre retrospective study we identified a total of 20 patients under the age of 18 years, who were admitted to our hospital with neuroblastoma between January 2005 and May 2018, and who had both CT and MRI examination. The INRGSS stages of tumours were evaluated by CT scan and MRI. Then, stages of tumours were described according to the INRGSS for CT and MRI, separately. The Spearman rank correlation test was used for statistical analysis. The p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: The median age was 11 months, and the age range was one month to nine years. In our results; both MRI and CT were significant in the determination of radiological staging of NBL, p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively. MRI was superior to CT in radiological staging. MRI was also superior for the detection of intraspinal extension, involvement of multiple body compartments, metastatic disease, and bone marrow infiltration. CT was more useful to consider the relationship between tumours and vascular structures.Conclusions: MRI and CT have high diagnostic accuracy rates in the staging of pre-treatment neuroblastomas. MRI is important in pre-treatment evaluation of neuroblastomas because of the higher detection of metastases as well as the lack of ionising radiation.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the MRI-based texture analysis (TA) of the basal ganglia and thalami to distinguish moderate-to-severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) from mild HIE in neonates. Methods: This study included 68 neonates (15 with mild, 20 with moderate-to-severe HIE, and 33 control) were born at 37 gestational weeks or later and underwent MRI in first 10 days after birth. The basal ganglia and thalami were delineated for TA on the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, T 1-, and T 2 weighted images. The basal ganglia, thalami, and the posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) were also evaluated visually on diffusion-weighted imaging and T 1 weighted sequence. Receiver operating characteristic curve and logistic regression analyses were used. Results: Totally, 56 texture features for the basal ganglia and 46 features for the thalami were significantly different between the HIE groups on the ADC maps, T 2-, and T 2 weighted sequences. Using a Histogram_entropy log-10 value as >1.8 from the basal ganglia on the ADC maps (p < 0.001; OR, 266) and the absence of hyperintensity of the PLIC on T 1 weighted images (p = 0.012; OR, 17.11) were found as independent predictors for moderate-to-severe HIE. Using only a Histogram_entropy log-10 value had an equal diagnostic yield when compared to its combination with other texture features and imaging findings. Conclusion: The Histogram_entropy log-10 value can be used as an indicator to differentiate from moderate-to-severe to mild HIE. Advances in knowledge: MRI-based TA may provide quantitative findings to indicate different stages in neonates with perinatal asphyxia.