NIMG-46THE USE OF CLINICAL FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN BRAIN TUMOUR PATIENTS FOR SURGICAL PLANNING: A SINGLE-SURGEON RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY AT A CANADIAN CENTER

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Advanced imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are being increasingly used for the pre-operative evaluation of patients with brain tumors. METHODS: The study is a retrospective chart review investigating the use of fMRI from 2002-2013 in the pre-operative evaluation of brain tumour patients. Baseline demographic and clinical data were collected. The specific fMRI protocols used for each patient were recorded. RESULTS: 60 patients were identified over the twelve-year period. The type of tumours most commonly investigated were low-grade glioma, glioblastoma multiforme and meningioma. Most common presenting concerns were seizures (46%), change on surveillance (15%), language deficits (11%), and headache (10%). There was a predominance of left-hemispheric lesions investigated with fMRI (77.6% versus 22.4% for right). The most commonly involved lobes were frontal (46.5%), temporal (28.8%), parietal (16.4%), then insular (5.5%). The most common fMRI paradigms were language (85.2%), motor (79.6%), sensory (18.5%), and memory (9.3%). Most patients ultimately underwent a craniotomy (73.2%) while smaller groups underwent stereotactic biopsy (10.7%) and non-surgical management (16.1%). Time from request for fMRI to actual fMRI acquisition was 3.2 +/− 2.3 weeks. Time from fMRI acquisition to intervention was 5.2 +/− 5.4 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: We have characterized patient demographics in a retrospective single-surgeon cohort undergoing pre-operative clinical fMRI at a Canadian center. Our experience suggests an acceptable wait time from scan request to scan completion/analysis and from scan to intervention.