Rodriguez M, Rehn S M, Nyman R S, Sundström J C, Ahlström H, Glimelius B L
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Akademiska Sjukhuset, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Acta Radiol. 1999 Mar;40(2):191-7. doi: 10.3109/02841859909177737.
The presence of tumor inhomogeneities in MR images of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) provides information about malignancy grade and prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine whether CT images are also informative in these respects.
Sixty-three CT examinations in patients with NHL (32 high-grade and 31 low-grade tumors) were reviewed retrospectively by two senior radiologists. The tumor patterns were classified subjectively as homogeneous, slightly inhomogeneous or severely inhomogeneous and their relations to malignancy grade, clinical characteristics and prognosis were determined.
Sixteen out of 17 patients with a severely inhomogeneous tumor pattern had high-grade NHL tumors while 21 out of 29 patients with a homogeneous tumor appearance had low-grade NHL tumors. Among chemotherapy-treated patients, those with the highest degree of inhomogeneity had a significantly worse prognosis (9 out of 11 patients died). This relationship was not found in patients treated with radiotherapy.
A severely inhomogeneous tumor pattern on CT images was found to be associated with a high malignancy grade in NHL. This CT pattern was also compatible with a poor prognosis in patients treated with chemotherapy.
非霍奇金淋巴瘤（NHL）的磁共振图像中肿瘤不均匀性的存在提供了有关恶性程度和预后的信息。本研究的目的是确定CT图像在这些方面是否也具有信息价值。
两名资深放射科医生对63例NHL患者（32例高级别肿瘤和31例低级别肿瘤）的CT检查进行了回顾性分析。将肿瘤模式主观分类为均匀、轻度不均匀或重度不均匀，并确定它们与恶性程度、临床特征和预后的关系。
17例肿瘤模式严重不均匀的患者中有16例患有高级别NHL肿瘤，而29例肿瘤外观均匀的患者中有21例患有低级别NHL肿瘤。在接受化疗的患者中，不均匀程度最高的患者预后明显较差（11例患者中有9例死亡）。在接受放疗的患者中未发现这种关系。
CT图像上严重不均匀的肿瘤模式与NHL的高恶性程度相关。这种CT模式也与接受化疗的患者预后不良相符。
