The role of cerebellum and cerebro-cerebellar system in neural plasticity induced by cerebral gliomas involving language network has long been ignored. Moreover, whether or not the process of reorganization is different in glioma patients with different growth kinetics remains largely unknown. To address this issue, we utilized preoperative structural and resting-state functional MRI data of 78 patients with left cerebral gliomas involving language network areas, including 46 patients with low-grade glioma (LGG, WHO grade II), 32 with high-grade glioma (HGG, WHO grade III/IV), and 44 healthy controls. Spontaneous brain activity, resting-state functional connectivity and gray matter volume alterations of the cerebellum were examined. We found that both LGG and HGG patients exhibited bidirectional alteration of brain activity in language-related cerebellar areas. Brain activity in areas with increased alteration was significantly correlated with the language and MMSE scores. Structurally, LGG patients exhibited greater gray matter volume in regions with increased brain activity, suggesting a structure-function coupled alteration in cerebellum. Furthermore, we observed that cerebellar regions with decreased brain activity exhibited increased functional connectivity with contralesional cerebro-cerebellar system in LGG patients. Together, our findings provide empirical evidence for a vital role of cerebellum and cerebro-cerebellar circuit in neural plasticity following lesional damage to cerebral language network. Moreover, we highlight the possible different reorganizational mechanisms of brain functional connectivity underlying different levels of behavioral impairments in LGG and HGG patients.

OBJECTIVEH3 K27M-mutant gliomas present heterogeneously in terms of pathology, imaging, and prognosis. This study aimed to summarize the imaging characteristics of adult H3 K27M-mutant gliomas.METHODSThe authors retrospectively identified all cases of glioma diagnosed using histopathological studies (n = 3300) that tested positive for histone H3 K27M mutations (n = 75) between January 2016 and December 2018 in a single hospital. Preoperative and follow-up MR images of 66 adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) were reviewed for anatomical location, degree of contrast enhancement, enhancement patterns, hemorrhage, edema, diffusion restriction, tumor dissemination, and tumor spread.RESULTSThe study included 66 cases (40 in men, 26 in women) of H3 K27M-mutant glioma in adult patients. Tumors were found in the following sites: thalamus (n = 38), brainstem (n = 6), brainstem with cerebellar or thalamic involvement (n = 4), whole brain (n = 8), corpus callosum (n = 3), hypothalamus (n = 1), hemispheres (n = 2), and spinal cord (n = 4). All pure brainstem lesions were located posteriorly, and all corpus callosal lesions were in the genu. Most spinal tumors were long-segment lesions. Hemispheric lesions mimicked gliomatosis cerebri in presentation, with the addition of traditional midline structure involvement. Most tumors were solid with relatively uniform signals on plain MRI. Of the 61 cases with contrast-enhanced MR images, 36 (59%) showed partial to no enhancement, whereas 25 (41%) showed diffuse or irregular peripheral enhancement. Hemorrhage and edema were rare. Most lesions were solid and showed mild diffusion restriction on diffusion-weighted imaging. Tumor dissemination to the leptomeninges (n = 8) and subependymal layer (n = 3) was observed.CONCLUSIONSThe authors described the MRI features of diffuse midline glioma with H3 K27M mutation in the largest study done to date in adult patients. Tumors were found in both midline and nonmidline structures, with the thalamus being the most common site. Although adult H3 K27M-mutant gliomas demonstrated highly variable presentations in this cohort of patients, the authors were able to observe shared characteristics within each location.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Resting-state functional MR imaging has been used for motor mapping in presurgical planning but never used intraoperatively. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of applying intraoperative resting-state functional MR imaging for the safe resection of gliomas using real-time motor cortex mapping during an operation.