Early morphologic and spectroscopic magnetic resonance in severe traumatic brain injuries can detect "invisible brain stem damage" and predict "vegetative states".

A precise evaluation of the brain damage in the first days of severe traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients is still uncertain despite numerous available cerebral evaluation methods and imaging. In 5-10% of severe TBI patients, clinicians remain concerned with prolonged coma and long-term marked cognitive impairment unexplained by normal morphological T2 star, flair, and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For this reason, we prospectively assessed the potential value of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the brain stem to evaluate the functionality of the consciousness areas.

A quantitative computed tomography assessment of brain weight, volume, and specific gravity in severe head trauma.

Background: Computed tomography DICOM images analysis allows a quantitative measurement of organ weight, volume and specific gravity in humans.

Methods: The brain weight, volume and specific gravity of 15 traumatic brain-injury patients (3+/-2 days after trauma) were computed using a specially designed software (BrainView). Data were compared with those obtained from 15 healthy subjects paired for age and overall intracranial volume.

Usefulness of intraoperative electrical subcortical mapping during surgery for low-grade gliomas located within eloquent brain regions: functional results in a consecutive series of 103 patients.

Object: Although a growing number of authors currently advocate surgery to treat low-grade gliomas, controversy still persists, especially because of the risk of inducing neurological sequelae when the tumor is located within eloquent brain areas. Many researchers performing preoperative neurofunctional imaging and intraoperative electrophysiological methods have recently reported on the usefulness of cortical functional mapping. Despite the frequent involvement of subcortical structures by these gliomas, very few investigators have specifically raised the subject of fiber tracking.