Characterization and Classification of Spatial White Matter Tract Alteration Patterns in Glioma Patients Using Magnetic Resonance Tractography: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Magnetic resonance (MR) tractography can be used to study the spatial relations between gliomas and white matter (WM) tracts. Various spatial patterns of WM tract alterations have been described in the literature. We reviewed classification systems of these patterns, and investigated whether low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and high-grade gliomas (HGGs) demonstrate distinct spatial WM tract alteration patterns.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the evidence regarding MR tractography studies that investigated spatial WM tract alteration patterns in glioma patients.

Results: Eleven studies were included. Overall, four spatial WM tract alteration patterns were reported in the current literature: displacement, infiltration, disruption/destruction and edematous. There was a considerable heterogeneity in the operational definitions of these terms. In a subset of studies, sufficient homogeneity in the classification systems was found to analyze pooled results for the displacement and infiltration patterns. Our meta-analyses suggested that LGGs displaced WM tracts significantly more often than HGGs ( = 259 patients, RR: 1.79, 95% CI [1.14, 2.79], I = 51%). No significant differences between LGGs and HGGs were found for WM tract infiltration ( = 196 patients, RR: 1.19, 95% CI [0.95, 1.50], I = 4%).

Conclusions: The low number of included studies and their considerable methodological heterogeneity emphasize the need for a more uniform classification system to study spatial WM tract alteration patterns using MR tractography. This review provides a first step towards such a classification system, by showing that the current literature is inconclusive and that the ability of fractional anisotropy (FA) to define spatial WM tract alteration patterns should be critically evaluated. We found variations in spatial WM tract alteration patterns between LGGs and HGGs, when specifically examining displacement and infiltration in a subset of the included studies.