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Rationale and Objectives: Minimally invasive neurosurgery requires methods to specify surgical boundaries of target tissue, such as brain tumors. This study investigated technical possibilities and clinical usefulness of adapting edema attenuated inversion recovery (EDAIR) pulse sequences to suppress magnetic resonance signal from cerebral edema in brain tumor patients. Materials and Methods: A resistive 0.23-T magnetic resonance scanner with magnitude-encoded inversion recovery sequences was used. Twenty-eight separate scanning tests in 25 neurosurgical brain tumor patients were performed on the day before surgery. An inversion recovery sequence with several inversion times between 150 and 2,200 ms was tested. The same sequences were also used intraoperatively and postoperatively. Results: T1 relaxation time of brain edema varied from case to case. An inversion recovery sequence with an inversion time of 400–800 milliseconds attenuated brain edema and seemed to help in demarcating gross brain tumor for surgical resection. These features were helpful for the evaluation of resectable tumor tissue particularly using neuronavigation techniques. Conclusions: According to these preliminary findings, inversion recovery sequences supplement other imaging modalities and assist neurosurgeons in evaluating different surgical trajectories and in estimating brain tumor volume before craniotomy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is based on detecting low-frequency signal fluctuations in functionally connected brain areas. These synchronous fluctuations in resting-state networks have been observed in several studies with healthy subjects. In this study, we explored if independent component analysis (ICA) can be used to localize the sensorimotor area from resting-state fMRI data in patients with brain tumors. Finger-tapping activation task and resting-state blood-oxygenation-level-dependent fMRI data were acquired from 8 patients with brain tumors and 10 healthy volunteers. Sensorimotor task independent components (ICtask) were used to verify resting-state independent components (ICrest) individually. In addition, sensorimotor ICrests were compared between the groups and no significant differences were detected in volume, spatial correlation or temporal correlation. These results show that it is possible to localize a sensorimotor area from resting-state data using ICA in patients with brain tumors. This offers a complementary method for assessing the sensorimotor area in subjects with brain tumors who have difficulties in performing motor paradigms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Parkinson''s disease (PD) is a common neurological disorder. Recently, bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has become an option in the treatment of severe PD. We measured the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of 27 parkinsonian patients, who underwent a bilateral STN-operation. The instruments used for the evaluation of the HRQoL were the Parkinson''s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) and the Finnish version of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). We found that the quality of life significantly improved when measured with both HRQoL scales. Clinical improvement and improvement in HRQoL were positively correlated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]