Quantitative computed tomography texture analysis for estimating histological subtypes of thymic epithelial tumors

摘要

Objectives: To investigate whether high-risk thymic epithelial tumor (TET) (HTET) can be differentiated from low-risk TET (LTET) using computed tomography (CT) quantitative texture analysis. Materials and methods: The data of 39 patients (mean age, 58.6 +/- 14.1 years) (39 unenhanced CT (UECT) and 33 contrast-enhanced CT (CECT)) who underwent thymectomy for TET were retrospectively analyzed. A region of interest was placed to include the entire TET within the slice at its maximum diameter. Texture analysis was performed for images with or without a Laplacian of Gaussian filter (with various spatial scaling factors [ SSFs]). Two radiologists evaluated the visual heterogeneity of TET using a 3-point scale.