Preoperative FMRI Associated with Decreased Mortality and Morbidity in Brain Tumor Patients.

Background: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a presurgical planning technique used to localize functional cortex so as to maximize resection of diseased tissue and avoid viable tissue. In this retrospective study, we examined differences in morbidity and mortality of brain tumor patients who received preoperative fMRI in comparison to those who did not.

Methods: Brain tumor patients (=206) were selected from a retrospective review of neurosurgical case logs from 2001-2009 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Impact of Intracranial Tumor Proximity to White Matter Tracts on Morbidity and Mortality: A Retrospective Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study.

Background: Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in neurosurgical planning allows identification of white matter tracts and has been associated with a reduction in postoperative functional deficits.

Objective: This study explores the relationship between the lesion-to-tract distance (LTD) and postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients with brain tumors in order to evaluate the role of DTI in predicting postoperative outcomes.

Methods: Adult patients with brain tumors (n = 60) underwent preoperative DTI.

Characterizing the relationship between functional MRI-derived measures and clinical outcomes in patients with vascular lesions.

Object: Functional MRI (fMRI) has proven to be an effective component of pretreatment planning in patients harboring a variety of different brain lesions. The authors have recently reported significant relationships concerning distances between brain tumor borders and areas of functional activation (lesion-to-activation distance; LAD) with regard to patient morbidity and mortality. This study further examines the relationship between LAD, focusing on a host of vascular lesions and pre- and posttreatment morbidity.

The role of secondary motor and language cortices in morbidity and mortality: a retrospective functional MRI study of surgical planning for patients with intracranial tumors.

Object: Functional MRI (fMRI) is commonly used by neurosurgeons preoperatively to identify brain regions associated with essential behaviors, such as language and motor abilities. In this study the authors investigated the relationship between patient morbidity and mortality and the distance from the tumor border area to functional activations in secondary motor and language cortices.

Methods: Patients with primary or metastatic brain tumors who underwent preoperative fMRI motor and language mapping were selected from a large database of patients with tumors.

Association of functional magnetic resonance imaging indices with postoperative language outcomes in patients with primary brain tumors.

Object: Functional MRI (fMRI) has the potential to be a useful presurgical planning tool to treat patients with primary brain tumor. In this study the authors retrospectively explored relationships between language-related postoperative outcomes in such patients and multiple factors, including measures estimated from task fMRI maps (proximity of lesion to functional activation area, or lesion-to-activation distance [LAD], and activation-based language lateralization, or lateralization index [LI]) used in the clinical setting for presurgical planning, as well as other factors such as patient age, patient sex, tumor grade, and tumor volume.

Methods: Patient information was drawn from a database of patients with brain tumors who had undergone preoperative fMRI-based language mapping of the Broca and Wernicke areas.