Technological advances in glioma surgery

In the recent past, the impact of surgery has increased because of important technical advances which have significantly improved tumour resection for both high- and low-grade gliomas and at the same time patient quality of life. Today, surgery is asked not only to obtain tissue to reach a precise histological and molecular diagnosis but to influence many functional and oncological endpoints. To reach all these complex issues, surgery has significantly changed in the way it is performed. Surgeons have had the opportunity to incorporate many technical advances, particularly in imaging and intraoperative neurophysiology, which has significantly modified the way resection is conceived and technically performed. The surgeon should be able to critically integrate all these technologies, both at the time of surgical planning and also during surgery. Thanks to these improvements, surgery is today able to impact both survival and quality of life in patients with low- and high-grade gliomas.