• Felix Behling, Florian Hennersdorf, Antje Bornemann, Marcos Tatagiba, and Marco Skardelly.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address: felixbehling@yahoo.de.
• World Neurosurg. 2016 Aug 1; 92: 586.e5-586.e8.

Background5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) has become an integral part in the neurosurgical treatment of malignant glioma. Over time, several other tumor entities have been identified to metabolize 5-ALA and show a similar fluorescence pattern during surgical resection. This case report is the first description of 5-ALA accumulation in postischemic cerebral tissue. This evidence questions the assumption that 5-ALA accumulation in glioma is exclusively attributed to tumor infiltration. Instead, 5-ALA accumulation can also occur beyond the tumor borders and may be partially ascribed to inflammatory changes in the surrounding brain tissue.Case DescriptionA 64-year old woman presented with episodes of apraxia and a ring-enhancing lesion in postcontrast T1-weighted magnetic resonance sequences suggestive of high grade glioma. Strong fluorescence was observed during 5-ALA-guided resection. However, although the frozen section was inconclusive, the final histopathologic examination revealed a stage II cerebral infarction.Conclusions5-ALA accumulation in postischemic cerebral tissue should be considered for intended supramarginal resections near eloquent brain regions. Therefore, sufficient preoperative imaging should regularly include magnetic resonance imaging spectroscopy and perfusion sequences to ascertain the proper diagnosis. Moreover, further research is warranted to determine the role of 5-ALA accumulation in postischemic and inflammatory brain tissue.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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