[Use of the navigation system Stealth Station(TM) for removal of brain neoplasm]

The paper analyzes the authors' initial experience with the Stealth Station navigation system (Medtronic-Sofamor Danek, USA) during neurosurgery for intracranial tumors and outlines its techniques. Twenty eight patients with various brain tumors were operated on. Thirteen patients had tumors of the skull base (meningiomas, chordomas, paragangliomas, fibrous dysplasia). Twelve patients showed various intracerebral tumor-forming processes (gliomas, cavernous angiomas, and metastizing carcinomas). The navigation system ensured resection of these tumors. It was used in 2 other patients with gliomas and in 1 patient with cystic craniopharyngioma for their stereotactic puncture, biopsy, and drainage. The Stealth Station proved to be an effective tool for preoperative planning of cranial neurosurgical operations and their intraoperative guidance. Strict observance of the protocols of preoperative preparation ensures a high accuracy and facilitates search for and identification of anatomic guides. Only in 1 patient with surface glioma involving the central gyri, its resection was followed by hemiparesis that subsequently progressed. In the remaining 27 cases, the operation ran smoothly and caused no new neurological defect. The brain-shift phenomenon is the principal limitation of accuracy of the intraoperative system. This problem is less evident in skull-base surgery where the system was effectively used for critical structural location. Also, it can be safely employed for elimination of slight deep lesions to protect the brain and to minimize its injury via approach to a tumor through the brain parenchyma.