• S Kathleen Bandt, Ludovic de Rochefort, Weiwei Chen, Alexey V Dimov, Pascal Spincemaille, Brian H Kopell, Ajay Gupta, and Yi Wang.
• Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, CRMBM UMR 7339, Marseille, France; APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, CEMEREM, Marseille, France; Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Electronic address: skbandt@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Feb 1; 122: e10-e19.

ObjectiveTo introduce quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), a novel magnetic resonance imaging sequence, to the field of neurosurgery.MethodsQSM is introduced both in its historical context and by providing a brief overview of the physics behind the technique tailored to a neurosurgical audience. Its application to clinical neurosurgery is then highlighted using case examples.ResultsQSM offers a quantitative assessment of susceptibility (previously considered as an artifact) via a single, straightforward gradient echo acquisition. QSM differs from standard susceptibility weighted imaging in its ability to both quantify and precisely localize susceptibility effects. Clinical applications of QSM are wide reaching and include precise localization of the deep nuclei for deep brain stimulation electrode placement, differentiation between blood products and calcification within brain lesions, and enhanced sensitivity of cerebral micrometastasis identification.ConclusionsWe present this diverse range of QSM's clinical applications to neurosurgical care via case examples. QSM can be obtained in all patients able to undergo magnetic resonance imaging and is easily integratable into busy neuroradiology programs because of its short acquisition time and straightforward, automated offline postprocessing workflow. Clinical integration of QSM may help clinicians better identify and characterize neurosurgical lesions, thereby improving patient care.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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