Application of combined intracranial electrode monitoring and neuronavigation in intractable epilepsy surgery of functional areas

Objective To study the application of combined intracranial electrode monitoring and neuronavigation in intractable epilepsy surgery. Methods Intracranial electrodes were implanted into 16 patients with refractory epilepsy.Epileptogenic zone in the patients was located on intracranial EEG（iEEG）.Magnetic resonance scanning was performed before the second operation.Imaging data were input into the neural navigation system to show the correlation between anatomies of epileptogenic zone and cortex in functional area.Microsurgery was performed by neuronavigation and iEEG location.Epileptogenic zone was extensively removed to minimize damages to the functional area. Results The patients were followed up for 2-26 months.Engel Ⅰ-Ⅲ were achieved in 13,2,and 1 cases,respectively,with no neurological dysfunction occurred after operation. Conclusion Combined intracranial electrode monitoring and neuronavigation is more accurate for intractable epilepsy surgery with less invasion.