Estimation of the Language Dominancy Using Functional MRI ?Comparison with Wada Test—

Objective : To assess the usefulness of language task functional MRI (fMRI) for the determination of language dominance, we compared the language dominance results between the Wada test and fMRI. Materials and methods : Total 11 patients with lesions in the left hemisphere were included in this study. All patients examined both Wada test and fMRI for the determination of language dominancy. We compared the results between two examinations and evaluated the effectiveness of language task fMRI. Results : Ten out of eleven patients showed concordant results between two examinations. Only one patient demonstrated the different conclusion, probably due to the bilateral language function. He presented the bilateral frontal and temporal lobe activations, predominantly over the right side. He revealed the severe aphasia at left side Amytal injection compared with right side during Wada test. Conclusions : Language task fMRI was useful for the determining of language dominance. To improve the reliability of language functional localization, evaluations with repeat tasks and varieties of tasks are recommended to detect the congruent activation area. We should compared the results between fMRI and other modalities to confirm the concordance between them, as well as check the language function after operation in surgical cases, for the final assessment of the utility of fMRI