A Radiomics Model for the Differentiation of Intracranial Solitary Fibrous Tumor/Hemangiopericytoma and Meningioma Based on Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background: Although the imaging findings of intracranial solitary fibrous tumor (SFT)/hemangiopericytoma (HPC) and meningioma are similar, their treatment and prognosis are quite different. Accurate preoperative identification of these two types of tumors is crucial for individualized treatment.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a radiomics model for the differentiation of intracranial SFT/HPC and meningioma based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI).

Material and methods: A total of 99 patients from July 2012 to July 2018 with histologically and immunohistochemically confirmed SFT/HPC (n = 40) or meningiomas (n = 59) were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 1118 features were extracted based on its image shape, intensity and texture features. The logistic regression (LR) and multi-layer artificial neural network (ANN) classifiers were used to classify SFT/HPC and meningioma. The predictive performance was calculated using receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC).

Results: We found significant difference in terms of sex between the SFT/HPC and meningioma group (χ2= 4.829, P < 0.05), but no significant difference was found in age (P > 0.05). The most significant radiomics features included five shape and four first-order level features. For the LR classifier, the prediction accuracy of SFT/HPC was 71.0% and meningioma was 78.7%. For the ANN classifier, the prediction accuracy of SFT/HPC was 83.9% and meningioma was 80.9%. Both of the two classifiers achieved a high accuracy rate, but ANN was better.

Conclusions: Radiomics features, especially when combined with an ANN classifier, can provide satisfactory performance in distinguishing SFT/HPC and meningioma.