• Roberto Cordella, Francesco Acerbi, Morgan Broggi, Davide Vailati, Vittoria Nazzi, Marco Schiariti, Giovanni Tringali, Paolo Ferroli, Angelo Franzini, and Giovanni Broggi.
• Dept. of Neurosurgery, Fondazione IRCCS Neurologico C. Besta, Milan, Italy. rcordella@istituto-besta.it
• Clin Neurophysiol. 2013 Jun 1;124(6):1244-54.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the role of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring in image-guided mini-invasive neurosurgery.MethodsTwenty-one patients were operated under general anaesthesia with the aid of multimodal intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring to remove supratentorials tumors closely related to the cortico-spinal tract. Pre-operative assessment included fMRI scans and tractography that were uploaded into the intraoperative neuro-navigation system. Monitoring consisted in simultaneously recording EEG, electrocorticography, transcranial and direct motor evoked potentials (tMEP and dMEP), somatosensory evoked potentials and subcortical stimulation during the whole procedures.ResultsThe recording of all the electrophysiological signals was possible in all procedures. SSEP guided the positioning of the strip electrode over the motor cortex (N20 phase inversion) that was used to evoke dMEP and monitor the lower limb motor responses; subcortical stimulation to unveil the spatial relationship between the tumors and motor fibers. Four patients had transient worsening of the symptoms, but only two had a long-term worsening, although not severe, of the pre-op clinical status.ConclusionsIntraoperative neurophysiology has a great value in mini-invasive neurosurgery, especially because the motor cortex is not exposed, consequently it cannot be directly mapped. This report describes a valuable scheme making use of as many electrophysiological signals as possible to constantly monitor the motor functions.SignificanceA useful method to monitor motor functions in mini-invasive neurosurgery was described.Copyright © 2012 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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