Epilepsy and NANO scale are associated with pre-treatment glioblastoma lesion size and distinct brain regions

Motivation: Identifying brain regions where glioblastoma is associated with epilepsy or neurological deficits could help recognize patients with a higher risk of developing neurological symptoms based on MRI. Goal(s): We aim to correlate clinical and radiological findings to improve diagnostic evaluation of pre-treatment glioblastoma patients. Approach: MRIs from 557 patients with de-novo glioblastoma were analyzed retrospectively. We used NANO scale to report neurological deficits and analyzed lesion-frequency-maps for identifying deficits-associated regions. Results: There was a significant correlation between the NANO scale and lesion volume. For each investigated domain with the NANO scale, radiologically correlated brain regions could be identified. Impact: We showed that MRI examinations of pre-treatment glioblastoma patients can provide clinicians and patients valuable information regarding risk of developing certain neurological deficits and symptoms. Furthermore, NANO scale and epilepsy-status can provide information regarding the characteristics of the tumor lesion.