Tissue characterization of benign brain tumors: use of NMR-tissue parameters.

To evaluate the potentials of NMR tissue parameters for tissue characterization we investigated 68 patients with benign brain tumors. Tissue parameters were accurately measured by a recently developed interlaced triple sequence. Each individual tumor was characterized by a set of three numbers (relaxation times T1 and T2 and proton density Rho). Different tumors exhibited significant overlaps of the three tissue parameters. Therefore a reliable prediction of the histological diagnosis based on the quantitative analysis of tissue parameters alone was not possible. T2-prolongation correlated well with water content and "regressive changes" in meningiomas and neuromas.