title: fMRI-driven DTT assessment of corticospinal tracts prior to cortex resection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The role of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) has become increasingly important in the preoperative mapping of brain white matter. Recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) driven DTT has provided the ability to evaluate the spatial relationship between the corticospinal tract (CST) and motor resection tumor boundaries. The main objective of this study was improvement of the preoperative assessment of the CST in patients with gliomas involving the motor cortical areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen patients with gliomas involving motor cortical areas underwent 3 dimensions (3D) T1-weighted imaging for anatomical referencing, using both fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We used the fast-marching tractography (FMT) algorithm to define the 3D connectivity maps within the whole brain using seed points selected in the white matter adjacent to the location of fMRI activation. The target region of interest (ROI) was placed in the cerebral peduncle. Karnofsky performance status (KPS) scores were evaluated for each patient before and after surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CST of a total seventeen patients were successfully tracked by choosing seed and target ROI on the path of the fibers. What is more, DTT can indicate preoperatively the possibility for total glioma removal or the maximum extent of surgical resection. The postoperative average KPS score for the seventeen patients enrolled increased by more than 10 points.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Incorporation of fMRI driven DTT showed a maximum benefit in surgical treatment of gliomas. Our study of the assessment precision should enhance the accuracy of glioma operations with a resulting improvement in postoperative patient outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-xiong
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xiao-dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Qing-hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xue-yin
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: He-chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000473:pathology*