title: Presurgical functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with brain tumors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is still an upcoming diagnostic tool because it is time-consuming to perform the post-scan calculations and interpretations. A standardized and easily used method for the clinical assessment of fMRI scans could decrease the workload and make fMRI more attractive for clinical use.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate a standardized clinical approach for distance measurement between benign brain tumors and eloquent cortex in terms of the ability to predict pre- and postoperative neurological deficits after intraoperative neuronavigation-assisted surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of 34 patients. The fMRI data were reanalyzed using a standardized distance measurement procedure combining data from both fMRI and three-dimensional T1 MRI scans. The pre- and postoperative neurological status of each patient was obtained from hospital records. Data analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis to determine whether the distance measured between the tumor margin and fMRI activity could serve as a predictor for neurological deficits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An odds ratio of 0.89 mm(-1) (P = 0.03) was found between the risk of preoperative neurological motor deficits and the tumor-fMRI distance. An odds ratio of 0.82 mm(-1) (P = 0.04) was found between the risk of additional postoperative neurological motor deficits and the tumor-fMRI distance. The tumor was radically removed in 10 cases; five patients experienced additional postoperative motor deficits (tumor-fMRI distance <18 mm) and five did not (tumor-fMRI distance >18 mm) (P = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that the distance measured between the tumor margin and fMRI activation could serve as a valuable predictor of neurological motor deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University, Denmark sorl@rn.dk.
authors.forename: Søren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ravn
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holmberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Preben
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jens B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Frokjaer
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University, Denmark Department of Medical Physics, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carl
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D057234:Preoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: CNS; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); brain; surgery