The aim of the present case study was to investigate the advantages of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) on the real-time guidance and monitoring of a stereotactic biopsy. The study describes a patient with intracranial lesions, which were examined by conventional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging using a 1.5T intraoperative MRI system. The digital and pre-operative positron emission/computed tomography image data were transferred to a BrainLAB planning workstation, and a variety of images were automatically fused. The BrainLAB software was then used to reconstruct the corticospinal tract (CST) and create a three-dimensional display of the anatomical association between the CST and the brain lesions. A Leksell surgical planning workstation was used to identify the ideal target site and a reasonable needle track for the biopsy. The 1.5T iMRI was used to effectively monitor the intracranial condition during the brain biopsy procedure. Post-operatively, the original symptoms of the patient were not aggravated and no further neurological deficits were apparent. The histopathological diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma was made. Using high-field iMRI, the multi-image fusion-guided stereotactic brain biopsy allows for a higher positive rate of biopsy and a lower incidence of complications. The approach of combining multi-image fusion images with the frame-based stereotactic biopsy may be clinically useful for intracranial lesions of deep functional areas.
Keywords: biopsy; intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging; multi-image fusion; stereotactic.