Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Tumor consistency is considered to be a critical factor for the surgical removal of meningiomas and its preoperative assessment is intensively studied. A significant drawback in the research of predictive methods is the lack of a clear shared definition of tumor consistency, with most authors resorting to subjective binary classification labeling the samples as \"soft\" and \"hard.\" This classification is highly observer-dependent and its discrete nature fails to capture the fine nuances in tumor consistency. To compensate for these shortcomings, we examined the utility of texture analysis to provide an objective observer-independent continuous measure of meningioma consistency.
METHODS: A total of 169 texturometric measurements were conducted using the Brookfield CT3 Texture Analyzer on meningioma samples from five patients immediately after the removal and on the first, second, and seventh postoperative day. The relationship between measured stiffness and time from sample extraction, subjectively assessed consistency grade and histopathological features (amount of collagen and reticulin fibers, presence of psammoma bodies, predominant microscopic morphology) was analyzed.
RESULTS: The stiffness measurements exhibited significantly lower variance within a sample than among samples (p = 0.0225) and significant increase with a higher objectively assessed consistency grade (p = 0.0161, p = 0.0055). A significant negative correlation was found between the measured stiffness and the time from sample extraction (p < 0.01). A significant monotonic relationship was revealed between stiffness values and amount of collagen I and reticulin fibers; there were no statistically significant differences between histological phenotypes in regard to presence of psammoma bodies and predominant microscopic morphology.
CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the values yielded by texture analysis are highly representative of an intrinsic consistency-related quality of the sample despite the influence of intra-sample heterogeneity and that our proposed method can be used to conduct quantitative studies on the role of meningioma consistency.
METHODS: A total of 169 texturometric measurements were conducted using the Brookfield CT3 Texture Analyzer on meningioma samples from five patients immediately after the removal and on the first, second, and seventh postoperative day. The relationship between measured stiffness and time from sample extraction, subjectively assessed consistency grade and histopathological features (amount of collagen and reticulin fibers, presence of psammoma bodies, predominant microscopic morphology) was analyzed.
RESULTS: The stiffness measurements exhibited significantly lower variance within a sample than among samples (p = 0.0225) and significant increase with a higher objectively assessed consistency grade (p = 0.0161, p = 0.0055). A significant negative correlation was found between the measured stiffness and the time from sample extraction (p < 0.01). A significant monotonic relationship was revealed between stiffness values and amount of collagen I and reticulin fibers; there were no statistically significant differences between histological phenotypes in regard to presence of psammoma bodies and predominant microscopic morphology.
CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the values yielded by texture analysis are highly representative of an intrinsic consistency-related quality of the sample despite the influence of intra-sample heterogeneity and that our proposed method can be used to conduct quantitative studies on the role of meningioma consistency.
摘要：
背景：肿瘤一致性被认为是脑膜瘤手术切除的关键因素，术前评估正在深入研究。预测方法研究中的一个显著缺陷是缺乏对肿瘤一致性的明确共享定义，大多数作者诉诸主观二元分类，将样本标记为“软”和“硬”。“这种分类高度依赖于观察者，其离散性质未能捕捉到肿瘤一致性的细微差别。为了弥补这些缺点，我们研究了纹理分析的实用性，以提供一个独立于观察者的脑膜瘤一致性的客观连续测量。
方法：使用BrookfieldCT3纹理分析仪对5名患者在切除后立即和第1名患者的脑膜瘤样本进行了169次纹理测量，第二,术后第七天。测量的刚度与样品提取时间之间的关系，主观评估一致性等级和组织病理学特征(胶原蛋白和网状蛋白纤维的量，存在着假人尸体,主要的微观形态）进行了分析。
结果：样品中的刚度测量显示出比样品中显著更低的方差（p=0.0225），并且随着客观评估的一致性等级更高（p=0.0161，p=0.0055）而显著增加。测得的硬度与样品提取时间之间存在显着的负相关（p<0.01）。在硬度值与I型胶原和网状蛋白纤维的量之间显示出显着的单调关系；在存在沙斑体和主要的微观形态方面，组织学表型之间没有统计学上的显着差异。
结论：我们得出的结论是，尽管受到样本内异质性的影响，但通过纹理分析得出的值高度代表了样本的内在一致性相关质量，并且我们提出的方法可用于对脑膜瘤一致性的作用进行定量研究。
方法：使用BrookfieldCT3纹理分析仪对5名患者在切除后立即和第1名患者的脑膜瘤样本进行了169次纹理测量，第二,术后第七天。测量的刚度与样品提取时间之间的关系，主观评估一致性等级和组织病理学特征(胶原蛋白和网状蛋白纤维的量，存在着假人尸体,主要的微观形态）进行了分析。
结果：样品中的刚度测量显示出比样品中显著更低的方差（p=0.0225），并且随着客观评估的一致性等级更高（p=0.0161，p=0.0055）而显著增加。测得的硬度与样品提取时间之间存在显着的负相关（p<0.01）。在硬度值与I型胶原和网状蛋白纤维的量之间显示出显着的单调关系；在存在沙斑体和主要的微观形态方面，组织学表型之间没有统计学上的显着差异。
结论：我们得出的结论是，尽管受到样本内异质性的影响，但通过纹理分析得出的值高度代表了样本的内在一致性相关质量，并且我们提出的方法可用于对脑膜瘤一致性的作用进行定量研究。
