Functional mapping-guided resection of low-grade gliomas

Abstract

In summary, evidence exists with quantitative volumetric resection of low-grade gliomas in adults and children that a greater extent of tumor resection affects the time to tumor recurrence and the recurrent tumor phenotype. Radical resections of infiltrating low-grade glial tumors may be enhanced with the aid of intra-operative mapping methods to identify sensory, motor, and language cortex. Subcortical, descending functional pathways within white matter may also be localized using these techniques. For patients with intractable epilepsy associated with a low-grade glioma, optimal control of seizure activity, without anti-epileptic medication, is often made possible with the use of electrocorticography before and following the tumor resection, as opposed to lesion resection alone.