Histogram analysis in predicting the grade and histological subtype of meningiomas based on diffusion kurtosis imaging

Presurgical grading is particularly important for selecting the best therapeutic strategy for meningioma patients.

To investigate the value of histogram analysis of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) maps in the differentiation of grades and histological subtypes of meningiomas.

A total of 172 patients with histopathologically proven meningiomas underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were classified into low-grade and high-grade groups. Mean kurtosis (MK), fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD) histograms were generated based on solid components of the whole tumor. The following parameters of each histogram were obtained: 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentiles, mean, median, maximum, minimum, and kurtosis, skewness, and variance. Comparisons of different grades and subtypes were made by Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis test, ROC curves analysis, and multiple logistic regression. Pearson correlation was used to evaluate correlations between histogram parameters and the Ki-67 labeling index.

Significantly higher maximum, skewness, and variance of MD, mean, median, maximum, variance, 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of MK were found in high-grade than low-grade meningiomas (all P < 0.05). DKI histogram parameters differentiated 7/10 pairs of subtype pairs. The 90th percentile of MK yielded the highest AUC of 0.870 and was the only independent indicator for grading meningiomas. Various DKI histogram parameters were correlated with the Ki-67 labeling index (P < 0.05).

The histogram analysis of DKI is useful for differentiating meningioma grades and subtypes. The 90th percentile of MK may serve as an optimal parameter for predicting the grade of meningiomas.