Thermosensitive/thermochromic silicone and infrared thermography mapping in 60 consecutive cases of epilepsy surgery.

Background: Epilepsy surgery represents a therapeutic opportunity for those patients who do not respond to drug therapy. However, an important challenge is the precise identification of the epileptogenic area during surgery. Since it can be hard to delineate, it makes it necessary to use auxiliary tools as a guide during the surgical procedure.

Localization of irritative zones in epilepsy with thermochromic silicone.

Background: During epilepsy surgery, the gold standard to identify irritative zones (IZ) is electrocorticography (ECoG); however, new techniques are being developed to detect IZ in epilepsy surgery and in neurosurgery in general, such as infrared thermography mapping (ITM), and the use of thermosensitive/thermochromic materials.

Methods: In a cohort study of consecutive patients with focal drug-resistant epilepsy of the temporal lobe treated with surgery, we evaluated possible adverse effects to the transient placement of a thermochromic/thermosensitive silicone (TTS) on the cerebral cortex and their postoperative evolution. Furthermore, we compared the precision of TTS for detecting cortical IZ against the gold standard ECoG and with ITM, as proof of concept.

Infrared thermography mapping plus neuronavigation target location in an eloquent area cavernoma resection.

Background: Safety and efficacy are irrebuttable goals in neurosurgery.

Methods: We performed a subcortical cavernoma resection in an eloquent area, where we recorded and compared the maximal and minimal brain temperature measured by an infrared thermographic camera and thermometer with the neuronavigation (NN) target location and real anatomical lesion location.

Results: The hottest cortical point correlated to the subcortical cavernoma location.

Thermography mapping patterns in temporal lobe epilepsy surgery.

Background: In several epilepsy etiologies, the macroscopic appearance of the epileptogenic tissue is identical to the normal, which makes it hard to balance between how much cytoreduction or disconnection and brain tissue preservation must be done. A strategy to tackle this situation is by evaluating brain metabolism during surgery using infrared thermography mapping (IrTM).

Methods: In 12 epilepsy surgery cases that involved the temporal lobe, we correlated the IrTM, electrocorticography, and neuropathology results.