Abstract #2447

Pre-Surgical Mapping Using Magnetoencephalography and Diffusion Tensor Tractography Reveals a Case of Neuroplasticity

Nadia CF Scantlebury¹, William Gaetz², Elysa Widjaja, James Rutka³, Eric Bouffet⁴, Conrad Rockel¹, Don Mabbott¹

¹Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ²Biomagnetic Imaging Laboratory, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; ³Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children; ⁴Haemotology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children

We used combined magnetoencephalography (MEG) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) tractography methods to delineate the cortico-spinal tracts (CSTs) of an 11-year old female who presented with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Concurrent MEG-DTI techniques revealed a case of cerebral plasticity, whereby motor function of the patient remained intact despite the contra-lateral displacement of her CST by the AVM. These data support the use of the functional activation as a seed for launching neural tracts during pre-surgical evaluation in children. Moreover, these findings demonstrate that using a concurrent MEG-DTI approach to delineate CSTs is invaluable when evaluating plasticity in the developing brain.