Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping for non-invasive glioma grading: a pilot study

Motivation: Non-invasive glioma grading is of paramount importance particularly in settings of inability to perform surgical resection or biopsy sampling. Goal(s): To characterize radiologically graded high- and low-grade gliomas (i.e., HGGs and LGGs respectively) by means of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping. Approach: Susceptibility maps were quantified for patients with radiological primary glioma diagnosis. Radiomics features were compared between HGGs and LGGs at whole-lesion level. Results: A set of eleven radiomics features were successfully able to differentiate between the two groups, highlighting different complexity patterns of susceptibility values across the lesion area, both at local and global levels. Impact: Radiomic features derived from susceptibility maps of radiologically graded glioma can distinguish between high- and low-grades. This may serve as a non-invasive tool to support clinical decisions when invasive procedures are not an option or watch-and-wait strategies are preferred instead.