Central nervous system imaging

Abstract

Brain tumor imaging has four main goals, namely, evaluating lesion extent, estimating tumor grade, identifying associated complications, and defining a comprehensive differential diagnosis. It assesses the relationship of the lesion to various brain structures and identifies associated findings, such as increased intracranial pressure, impending herniation, hydrocephalus, hemorrhagic transformation, and mass effect. A comprehensive differential diagnosis is usually established based on the patient's age, tumor location, and specific imaging findings. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.