Refining Surgical Corridors with Whole Brain Tractography: A Case Series

Recent advancements in automated diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and whole brain tractography (WBT) may be of great use to the neurosurgeon in selecting surgical corridors that can minimize disruption of surrounding white matter tracts. This is especially important in cases where the lesion displaces white matter tracts and traditional operative approaches may inadvertently violate these fibers. Here, we present automated DTI seeding and WBT as a practical and efficient means for preoperative surgical planning, in an effort to spare white matter tracts that may be displaced by a variety of lesions and may be vulnerable during surgery. We retrospectively reviewed the records of seven patients with various intracranial lesions, who underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with automated DTI analysis. These images were used to guide operative planning so that we could select white matter corridors that would allow for minimal damage to vulnerable fiber tracts. The patients had various pathologies, ranging from neoplasms to intracranial hemorrhage, in a number of different intracranial locations. All the patients underwent preoperative intracranial imaging with post-processing of these images to generate white matter tracts. These images were then used to design an appropriate surgical approach that would minimize injury to white matter tracts. For the patients with neoplasms, all were totally or near-totally resected with a stability of symptoms postoperatively. In the case of the patient with intracranial hemorrhage, the hematoma was evacuated, with significant improvement in the postoperative period. Automated DTI seeding and WBT, which have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, can be of significant use to the neurosurgeon for preoperative planning. Their application is especially important in cases where white matter tracts are displaced by the lesion in question and are put at risk of injury during surgery. Using WBT to design customized surgical approaches appropriate to the case at hand can be of immense value in preserving these white matter tracts, minimizing postoperative deficits, and improving surgical outcomes. Further studies are needed to validate these results and better define their applicability to other regions and pathologies.