[Preoperative direct cortical and sub-cortical electric stimulation during cerebral surgery in functional areas]

Indications of surgical treatment for lesions in functional cerebral areas depend on the ratio between the definitive neurological deficit and the beneficial effect of resection. Detection of eloquent cortex is difficult because of important individual variability. Peroperative direct cortical and subcortical electrical stimulations (DCS) provide the most precise and reliable method currently available allowing identification and preservation of neurons essential for motricity, sensitivity++ and language. We report our preliminary experience with DCS in surgery of intracerebral infiltrative tumors with a consecutive series of 15 patients operated from November 96 through September 97 in our institution. Presenting symptoms in the 15 patients (8 males, 7 females, mean age 43 years) were seizures in 11 cases (73%) and neurological deficit in 4 cases (27%). Clinical examination was normal in 11 patients and revealed hemiparesia in 4. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with three-dimensional reconstruction showed a precentral tumor in 10 cases, central lesion in one patient, postcentral lesion in two cases, right insular tumor (non-dominant hemisphere) in one case. All patients underwent surgical resection using DCS with detection in 13 cases of motor cortex and subcortical pathways under genera anesthesia, in one case of somatosensory area under local anesthesia, and in one case of language areas also under local anesthesia. The tumor was recurrent in two patients had been operated earlier but without DCS. Resection, verified by postoperative MRI, was total in 12 cases (80%) and estimated at 80% in 3 patients. Histological examination revealed an infiltrative glioma in 12 cases (8 low grade astrocytomas, 3 low grade oligodendrogliomas, and one anaplastic oligodendroglioma), and metastases in 3 cases. Eight patients had no postoperative deficit, while the other 7 patients were impaired, with, in all cases except one, complete recovery in 15 days to 2 months. Direct cortical and subcortical electrical stimulations offer a reliable, precise and safe method, allowing functional mapping especially useful in case of infiltrative cerebral tumors in eloquent areas. This technique allows improvement in the quality of tumoral resection and concurrently a minimization of the risk of definitive postoperative neurological deficit.