gms | German Medical Science

Objective: Despite recent advances in surgery, chemo- and radiation therapy diffuse low-grade glioma are still incurable. According to current guidelines maximum safe resection is the first line of treatment. Apart from surgery all other treatment modalities are handled very differently among different teams. Additionally, imaging of low-grade gliomas is a field of great variety throughout different centers. We aimed to obtain data on imaging in LGG in order to identify a "minimal core of imaging" that is performed in every participating center.

Methods: We carried out a survey among centers in Europe sent through channels of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS), the German and Austrian National Society (DGNC and OEGNC) and the ELGGN representing a multidisciplinary society. The online survey consisted of 38 items in total and took place in March and April 2017, during that time, 140 complete surveys were received. Descriptive analysis of results was performed.

Results: Of all centers submitting the survey 73% were academic. Nearly half (46%) of the centers maintain a dedicated LGG-program in their practice. The annual amount of LGG-cases treated differed between 10 and 200. The heterogeneity of imaging protocols showed that 50% of centers are willing to use any recently performed MRI whereas only 31% scan their own MRI protocol in patients with LGG. The results showed that only 36% of centers involved performed PET scans in patients with suspected LGG and 80% of centers relied on MRI to assess treatment response and progression. Further data obtained on treatment response showed that 41% of centers performed a linear measurements whereas only 33% perform volumetric analysis.

Conclusion: We could depict a minimal core of imaging, consisting of several MRI sequences that will serve as foundation for future trials of treatment response and surgical accuracy.