[Intraoperative Functional Monitoring in Brain Tumor Surgery]

Invasive brain tumors, especially gliomas, often arise in the eloquent areas of the brain that are involved in language and motor function. The most important goal of brain tumor removal is to safely remove the maximum amount of tumor while preserving neurological function. Maximizing the amount of removed tumor is thought to improve prognosis by prolonging both the progression-free and overall survival periods of patients. In the present study, we review the intraoperative monitoring techniques for motor function-sparing surgery for gliomas arising near the eloquent areas of the brain and electrophysiological monitoring techniques for motor function-sparing surgery for brain tumors arising deep within the brain. In brain tumor surgery, monitoring of direct cortical motor evoked potentials(MEPs), transcranial MEPs, and subcortical MEPs is integral for preserving motor function.