Intraoperative Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Evaluates the Grade of Glioma.

Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the value of intraoperative contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for evaluating the grade of glioma and the correlation between microvessel density (MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

Methods: We performed intraoperative conventional ultrasound (CUS) and CEUS on 88 patients with gliomas. All of the patients have undergone surgery and obtained the results of pathology. All patients have undergone intraoperative CUS and CEUS to compare the characteristics of different grade gliomas and the results of CUS and CEUS were compared with pathological results.

Results: The time to start (TTS) and time to peak (TTP) of low grade glioma (LGG) were similar to those of edema and normal brain surrounding glioma. The enhanced extent of LGG was higher than that of the normal brain and edema. The TTS and TTP of high grade glioma were earlier than those of the edema and normal brain surrounding glioma. The enhancement of HGG was higher than that of LGG. The absolute peak intensity (API) was correlated with MVD and VEGF.

Conclusion: Intraoperative CEUS could help in determining boundary of peritumoral brain edema of glioma. Intraoperative CEUS parameters in cerebral gliomas could indirectly reflect the information of MVD and VEGF.