[Awake craniotomy and brain mapping for eloquent cortex in patients with supratentorial tumors: a preliminary report]

Malignant brain tumours are incurable at present. Since none of the hitherto used treatment methods allows to significantly extend these patients' survival time, the basic aim is to improve their quality of life. Intraoperative brain mapping seems to be an approach enabling to minimize the risk of irreversible damages to functionally important structures of the brain. In the Department of Neurosurgery of the Medical University of Łódź awake craniotomy with stimulation of eloquent cortex was attempted from May 1999 to July 2000 in 13 patients aged 16 to 77 years. In two patients the attempt of intraoperative awakening was unsuccessful. In 8 out of the 11 awakened patients intraoperative brain mapping had a significant effect on the course of surgery (i.e. on the resection magnitude and "safe corridor"). Out of six patients with tumors situated in the neighbourhood of motor cortex--one developed a severe and permanent paresis of the upper limb. On the grounds of the literature and the authors' own experience an algorithm of awake craniotomy and intraoperative brain mapping was worked out.