VASCULAR STRUCTURE OF GLIOBLASTOMAS

¹ Professor of Radiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine
² Assistant Professor of Radiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine
³ Fourth-year Medical Student, University of North Carolina School of Medicine
⁴ Third-year Resident and Part-time Instructor of Radiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

A series of postmortem injections of the blood supply of glioblastomas has been analyzed and correlated with in vivo cerebral arteriograms done in the majority of the tumors. The tumor vascularity has two origins. The first is that adapted from pre-existing circulation and consists of

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relatively large transcerebral and cortical arteries and veins which may undergo dilatation and deformation, presenting a coarse tumor vascularity in arteriograms.

A homogeneous blush seen in some glioblastomas would appear to be due to gray matter vasodilatation, as well as new vessel formation from gray matter arteries and veins invoked by tumor infiltration. A similar contrast material stain produced by gray matter vascularity can be seen in metastatic deposits, infarcts, and possibly in association with abscess formation. It is speculated that the richer vascular bed found in gray matter when involved by tumor may contribute to the more rapid growth of the glioblastoma.

A second major type of vascularity in glioblastomas is due to new vessel formation. The vessels which are primarily capillary in type may have an irregular formation without definite patterns or assume a spherical network configuration around necrotic or within viable tumor.

Brief comment is made concerning a guinea pig glioblastoma tumor model, which is now under investigation. Hopefully, postmortem vascular injections of these tumors at various stages of growth will give a clearer understanding of the development of glioblastoma vessels.

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