Citation: Essayed, W.I.; Juvekar, P.;
Bernstock, J.D.; Rassi, M.S.; Almefty,
K.; Zamani, A.A.; Golby,A.J.; Al-Mefty,
O. Multimodal Intraoperative
Image-Driven Surgery for Skull Base
Chordomas and Chondrosarcomas.
Cancers 2022, 14, 966. https://
doi.org/10.3390/cancers14040966
Academic Editor: Jorn Fierstra
Received: 10 January 2022
Accepted: 7 February 2022
Published: 15 February 2022
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
iations.
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
cancers
Article
Multimodal Intraoperative Image-Driven Surgery for Skull
Base Chordomas and Chondrosarcomas
Walid I. Essayed
1
, Parikshit Juvekar
1
, Joshua D. Bernstock
1
, Marcio S. Rassi
2
, Kaith Almefty
3
,
Amir Arsalan Zamani
4
, Alexandra J. Golby
1,4
and Ossama Al-Mefty
1,
*
1
Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA 02115, USA; wibnessayed@bwh.harvard.edu (W.I.E.); pjuvekar@bwh.harvard.edu (P.J.);
jbernstock@bwh.harvard.edu (J.D.B.); agolby@bwh.harvard.edu (A.J.G.)
2
Department of Neurosurgery, A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo 01509-001, Brazil;
marcio.rassi@accamargo.org.br
3
Department of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center,
Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA; kaith.almefty@barrowbrainandspine.com
4
Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
azamani@bwh.harvard.edu
* Correspondence: almeftyossama@bwh.harvard.edu; Tel.: +1-(617)-525-9451; Fax: +1-(617)-743-8342
Simple Summary: Achieving gross total resection during the first surgical intervention is particularly
important for chondrosarcomas and chordomas, as recurrences are frequently impossible to resect
due to post-surgical and post-radiation scarring and vascular fragility. Despite overall survival and
progression-free survival being strongly dictated by gross total resection, it is reportedly achieved
in less than 70% of patients. While the individual utility of several imaging modalities such as
intraoperative CT, MRI, ultrasound, endoscopy, fluoroscopy and neuronavigation has already been
demonstrated in previous literature; our case series highlights the importance and methodology of
their simultaneous, real-time integration in the Advanced Multimodality Image-Guided Operating
(AMIGO) suite at our institution to maximize of resection and mitigate complications.
Abstract: Given the difficulty and importance of achieving maximal resection in chordomas and
chondrosarcomas, all available tools offered by modern neurosurgery are to be deployed for planning
and resection of these complex lesions. As demonstrated by the review of our series of skull base
chordoma and chondrosarcoma resections in the Advanced Multimodality Image-Guided Operating
(AMIGO) suite, as well as by the recently published literature, we describe the use of advanced
multimodality intraoperative imaging and neuronavigation as pivotal to successful radical resection
of these skull base lesions while preventing and managing eventual complications.
Keywords: chordomas; chondrosarcoma; intraoperative MRI; multimodal imaging; neuronavigation;
resection; skull base
1. Introduction
Recent advances in technology have enabled considerable progress in neurosurgical
practice and associated clinical outcomes. This revolution has in part been driven by
the ever-expanding armamentarium of imaging tools available in the operating room.
In skull base surgery, widespread adoption and use of neuronavigation, endoscopes, and
intraoperative imaging represent the core of such advances [1,2]. In line with such advances,
our institution has developed the Advanced Multimodality Image-Guided Operating
(AMIGO) suite in an effort to maximize the potential of modern imaging tools to guide
challenging procedures [3]. The AMIGO suite consists of three interconnected rooms
with a 3T intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, a positron emission
tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scanner, endoscope(s), an endovascular
Cancers 2022, 14, 966. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14040966 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers