Long term cognitive functioning after glioma surgery in eloquent areas

Cognitive performance is an important outcome measure in treatment of lowgrade gliomas (LGGs), since it is a crucial aspect of Quality of Life. LGGs are slow growing brain tumours infiltrating the central nervous system, often in the proximity of eloquent areas. During brain surgery, direct electrocortical stimulation is nowadays used to identify individual functional boundaries to prevent permanent neurological and/or cognitive damage.

Previous studies have shown that LGG patients have pre-operative deficits in one or more cognitive domains, such as language, memory, attentional and executive functions which may even deteriorate after glioma surgery. Most studies claim that these impairments are transient and recover within 3 months. Our short follow-up at 3 months, however, still showed cognitive deterioration5 post surgery. Long term follow-up is necessary to gain more insight into the course of recovery.