Background & objective: Motor functional deficit may be caused by surgery resection of brain tumors around the central sulcus. This study was to evaluate the application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to neurosurgery through identifying motor hand functional cortex and depicting the relationship between the cortex and tumor with fMRI before surgery.
Methods: Routine MRI and fMRI were performed on 31 patients with brain tumor around the central sulcus. Of the 31 cases of brain tumor, 10 were metastases, 11 were gliomas, 6 were meningiomas, 2 were arterial-venal malformation (AVM), and 2 were arachnoid cysts. fMRI was performed using FFE-EPI sequence. Sixteen continuent slices with 4 mm thickness and 0 gap parallel to bicommissural line were scanned during the rest, and actions of opening and closing of hand were imaged. A total of 1,280 functional original pictures and statistical Z-score maps were obtained.
Results: The activation areas of motor hand functional cortex were showed in all patients except 2 whose heads moved obviously during the scanning. The minimal distance between the functional cortex and tumor was measured. There were 3 types of activation of motor hand functimal cortex, including activation spots in or near the tumor, deformation and shift of cortex activation area, normal shape and location of cortex activation area. Other activation areas in different places of brain in individual patients were also appeared.
Conclusion: fMRI may help to identify the relationship between the brain tumors near central sulcus and the location of motor hand functional cortex, therefore, provide reference for neurosurgery.