Preoperative Brain Mapping Alters Tumor Surgery

OAK BROOK, Ill.-- By pinpointing the motor and language areas of the brain with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), surgeons can target brain tumors more effectively while reducing the risk of damaging important cognitive and motor processes, according to a study appearing in the September issue of Radiology. Half of the patients with brain tumors who were enrolled in an fMRI study at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., had their treatment strategies altered after these critical brain regions were identified prior to surgery.