CLEVELAND, OH -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/11/07 -- On Tuesday, May 29th at 3:00pm EDT, University Hospitals Case Medical Center will host a live webcast on www.or-live.com to demonstrate the removal of a brain tumor and epileptic focus from an awake patient using intra-operative MRI and brain mapping.

The patient was a middle-aged gentleman with new onset seizures. An MRI showed what appeared to be a low grade glioma near the motor strip on the right. Studies have shown that complete removal can cure the seizures and improve quality of life and survival, but this is difficult to do with conventional technology without harming the surrounding normal brain because it's difficult to determine where tumor ends and normal brain begins.

In this case, the surgeon combined a variety of techniques to ensure optimal resection while maximizing safety. First, image computer aided navigation was used to identify the precise location of the tumor and map various possible trajectories for surgery. Then electrocorticography was used to confirm the location of the part of the brain responsible for motor function as well as to confirm that the abnormal electrical activity causing the seizure was coming from the abnormal lesion identified on the MRI. Stimulation mapping and diffusion tensor imaging was then used to confirm the location of the cells responsible for normal motor function and how the nerve fibers track in the brain to deeper structures.

Only then does the surgeon begin to remove the lesion under a microscope using a delicate tool known as the cavitron. Finally, an intra-operative MRI is done in the operating room to confirm that the goal of complete tumor removal has been achieved.

Visit: http://www.or-live.com/universityhospitals/1931 now to learn more and view a program preview. VNR: http://www.or-live.com/rams/uho-1931-mkw-q.ram

Video-Link Available: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=488576

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Alex Fraser
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860-953-2900 x 214
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