Space occupying lesions of central nervous system: A radiological-histopathological correlation study

Introduction: Radiological imaging modalities are important pre-operative diagnostic tools to detect the central nervous system [CNS] lesion. Radiological findings can be used by pathologists to narrow down the differential diagnoses. Radiological diagnosis requires confirmation by histopathology Aims: 1. To study various patterns of central nervous system [CNS] lesions in histopathology. 2. To correlate radiological diagnosis with histopathological diagnosis. 3. To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of radiological diagnosis. Settings and Study Design: Analytical study at tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: Eighty eight cases were analyzed. Histopathological evaluation was done from biopsy samples sent in formalin. Tissue processing was done by standard operating procedure. Tissue sections were routinely stained by H&E. Special stains were performed in selected cases. Radiological diagnosis was correlated with histopathological diagnosis and concordance was calculated. Statistical Analysis: Frequencies, Chi-Square Test and Crosstabs were used for calculation. Results: Histopathological diagnosis of eighty eight cases included neoplastic lesions [90.9%] and non-neoplastic lesions [9.09%]. Correct diagnosis was achieved by radiology in 36 cases [45%] by complete concordance. However, diagnostic accuracy improved considerably [85%] after applying partial concordance criteria. For the detection of neoplastic lesions, radiological diagnosis had sensitivity of 96.25%, specificity of 50% and efficacy of 92.04%. The p value, determining efficacy of radiological investigations for detecting CNS neoplasms was statistically significant [p<0.005]. Conclusions: Radiological investigation is a reliable diagnostic tool for space occupying central nervous system lesions. It has high sensitivity and is highly efficacious investigative modality.