Preliminary experience with an intraoperative MRI-compatible infant headholder: technical note

Abstract

The development of high-quality intraoperative MRI (iMRI) capability has offered a major advance in the care of patients with complex intracranial disease. To date, this technology has been limited by the need for pin fixation of the calvaria. The authors report their preliminary experience with an MRI-compatible horseshoe headrest that allows for the following: 1) iMRI in patients too young for pin fixation; 2) iMRI in patients with large calvarial defects; 3) the ability to move the head during iMRI surgery; and 4) the use of neuronavigation in such cases. The authors report 2 cases of infants in whom the Visius Surgical Theatre horseshoe headrest (IMRIS Inc.) was used. Image quality was equivalent to that of pin fixation. The infants suffered no skin issues. The use of neuronavigation with the system remained accurate and could be updated with the new iMRI information. The Visius horseshoe headrest offers a technical advance in iMRI technology for infants, for patients with cranial defects or prior craniotomies in whom pin fixation may not be safe, or for patients in whom the need to move the head during surgery is required. The image quality of the system remains excellent, and the ability to merge new images to the neuronavigation system is helpful.