• Hamilton Newhart, John Patterson, Arunprasad Gunasekaran, Tarun Pandey, Manoj Kumar, and Noojan Kazemi.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Feb 1; 122: 331-341.

IntroductionMagnetic resonance neurography (MRN) is a newer imaging technique that is increasingly used for detailed visualization of peripheral nerves not reliably achieved with conventional imaging modalities. Although MRN has been previously characterized in the literature, few studies have assessed its utility to neurosurgery, where there is potentially substantial impact particularly with preoperative assessment. In this article, we performed a retrospective review of cases in which MRN was used for clinical evaluation and surgical decision making.MethodsMRN, clinical assessment, and operative decision making were retrospectively assessed in 206 consecutive patients at our institution between 2015 and 2018.ResultsMRN was determined to lead to a change in diagnosis or surgical decision making in 44 patients (21.4%: 27 female, 17 male). These were classified into 6 major diagnostic categories: trauma, postsurgical evaluation, compressive/degenerative conditions, tumors, neuritis/inflammation, and other neurogenic lesions. Nine representative cases were selected from these categories to highlight the range of neurosurgical pathologies in which MRN was useful in diagnostic assessment and surgical decision making.ConclusionsMRN is an underused resource with great potential value in the diagnoses, surgical planning, and postoperative assessment of various neurosurgical conditions. These present incremental utility to the neurosurgeon as well as socioeconomic benefit in the detection of potentially surgically treatable lesions.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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