Establishing reproducible predictors of cerebellar mutism syndrome based on pre-operative imaging.

PURPOSE

To establish some explicit, feasible, and reproducible predictors for CMS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was a retrospective case study. Data were obtained from 82 patients with medulloblastoma at a single center, Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Based on medical records, we created two independent samples: the CMS group comprising 23 patients and the non-CMS group comprising 23 patients. Pre-operative imaging was studied by performing quantitative assessments of specific indicators.

RESULTS

The CMS group showed greater differences in pre-operative imaging data with the non-CMS group. The A/d ratio in pre-operative MR imaging captured in the axial plane was used to quantify the compression of the cerebellum and brainstem, and significant differences were observed between the CMS group and non-CMS group (p = 0.0002). In the sagittal plane, D*d was used to quantify the area of the tumor that invaded the brainstem, and significant differences were observed between the two groups (p = 0.0003). In the coronal plane, A/d was used to quantify the compression of the upper functional brain region, and significant differences were noted between the two groups (p = 0.0219). Additionally, Evans' index was introduced to quantify the degree of hydrocephalus. The CMS group tended to show an increased Evans' index (p = 0.0027).

CONCLUSION

Based on pre-operative imaging data, some reproducible predictors, such as A/d, D*d, A/d, and Evans' index, were established.