THE EFFECT OF INTRACRANIAL SURGICAL TRAUMA ON GADOLINIUM-ENHANCED MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING

Gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance im aging (MRI) is currently the gold standard for diagnosis of an acoustic neuroma. Its status in dia gnosis of a recurrent or residual neuroma is not nearly as clear. A pi lot study of 36 postoperative cases showed enhancement in 100% of the patients at the operative site. To examine the role of surgical trauma and biodegradable packing on enhanced MRI, an animal study was design ed. Cats and monkeys that under went posterior fossa surgical procedur es had preoperative and postoperative MRI and histologic correlation o f any enhanced area. Areas of postoperative enhancement should not be considered as diagnostic of tumor. Further studies are necessary to de velop a criteria for recurrent tumor diagnosis with enhanced MRI.