The use of intraoperative MRI for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.

Outcome for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is improved with aggressive surgical resection followed by standard chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Intraoperative MRI (iMRI) is a recent surgical advancement that gives neurosurgeons direct radiographic feedback throughout a surgical procedure and thus enables maximal surgical resection of such lesions. We reviewed our series of 35 cases in 29 patients who underwent surgical resections of their GBM's using iMRI. The average extent of resection was 94% with only three patients having resections of less than 90%. However, even with such technology complete resection may not always be possible because of tumor location near critical brain structure or involvement of surrounding vascular structures. The addition of iMRI to the surgical armamentarium for treatment of patients with GBM improves the degree of tumor resection while minimizing complications and thus may positively impact survival in this patient population.