Structural network alterations associated with surgical resection of temporal gliomas

The alterations in the brain structural network associated with surgical resection of temporal gliomas remain unclear.

Based on graph algorithms, we examined neuroimaging network properties from 6 healthy controls and 23 patients with temporal gliomas. We compared the topological network, fractional anisotropy (FA), and graph metrics of each patient before and after surgery.

In the preoperative analysis, patients showed graph metrics decrease, though FA and FN showed no significant difference. In the postoperative analysis, the topological network mainly changed in the temporal, frontal, and basal ganglia regions, while FA declined mainly in the occipital and frontal regions. Regarding graph metrics, the brain network showed no significant difference in small-worldness, global efficiency, and local efficiency. However, the degree centrality mainly increased on the affected side after surgery and decreased in multiple regions (i.e. amygdala). Similarly, nodal efficiency increased in the frontal region, including middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and superior medial frontal gyrus (SFGmed), and declined mainly in insula (INS), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), and amygdala (AMYG).

Surgical resection of temporal gliomas can decrease FA and FN, indicating the damage to the integrity of WM tracts. Though the global structure shows no significant differences after surgery, the decreases in degree centrality and nodal efficiency in some regions may indicate the decline of brain function. The compensatory increases in these graph metrics in some regions may show the recovery from glioma invasion. Our structural analysis may provide a new method to assess post-operative recovery in patients with temporal gliomas.