The Safe Area in the Parieto-Occipital Lobe in the Human Brain: Diffusion Tensor Tractography.

OBJECTIVE

A recent study reported on the relatively safe area in the frontal lobe for performance of neurological interventions; however, no study on the posterior safe area has been reported. In this study, using diffusion tensor tractography, we attempted to identify the safe area in the parieto-occipital lobe in healthy subjects.

METHODS

A total of 47 healthy subjects were recruited for this study. Eleven neural tracts were reconstructed in and around the parieto-occipital area of the brain using diffusion tensor tractography. The safe area, which is free from any trajectory of 10 neural tracts, was measured anteriorly and medially from the line of the most posterior and lateral margin of the brain at 5 axial levels (from the cerebral cortex to the corona radiata).

RESULTS

The anterior boundaries of the safe area in the upper cerebral cortex, lower cerebral cortex, centrum semiovale, upper corona radiata, and lower corona radiata levels were located at 31.0, 32.6, 32.7, 35.1, and 35.2 mm anteriorly from the line of the most posterior margin of the brain, respectively, and the medial boundaries were located at an average of 34.7, 38.1, 39.2, 36.1, and 33.6 mm medially from the line of the most lateral margin of the brain, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

According to our findings, the safe area was located in the posterolateral portion of the parieto-occipital lobe in the shape of a triangle. However, we found no safe area in the deep white matter around the lateral ventricle.