Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026
Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
Identification of disappearing brain lesions with intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging prevents surgery
Christina S Sutherland1, John Jp Kelly, William Morrish
1Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Background:
Typically, neurosurgery is performed several weeks after diagnostic imaging. In the majority of cases, histopathology confirms the diagnosis of neoplasia. In a small number of cases, a different diagnosis is established or histopathology is nondiagnostic. The frequency with which these outcomes occur has not been established.
Objective:
To determine the frequency and outcome of disappearing brain lesions within a group of patients undergoing surgery for suspected brain tumor.
Methods:
Over the past decade, 982 patients were managed in the intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging unit at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. These patients have been prospectively evaluated.
Results:
In 652 patients, a brain tumor was suspected. In 6 of the 652 patients, histopathology indicated a nontumor diagnosis. In 5 patients, intraoperative images, acquired after induction of anesthesia, showed complete or nearly complete resolution of the suspected tumor identified on diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging acquired 6 ± 4 (mean ± SD) weeks previously. Anesthesia was reversed, and the surgical procedure aborted. The lesions have not progressed with 6 ± 2 years of follow-up.
Conclusion:
Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging prevented surgery on 5 patients with disappearing lesions.
