OBJECTIVES:
* To determine the feasibility of applying established MRI techniques to map functional anatomic regions at potential risk in irradiated normal brain tissue of patients undergoing radiotherapy to the base of the skull and brain for head and neck neoplasms.
* To determine changes in cerebral blood flow and blood volume with perfusion MRI techniques in irradiated regions of the brain as a function of the radiation dose.
OUTLINE: Patients undergo MRI perfusion imaging and functional (fMRI) (standard structural imaging sequences, diffusion tensor imaging, arterial spin labeled perfusion imaging at rest, blood oxygen level dependent, and dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion weighted MRI) at baseline and 3 and 6 months after completion of radiotherapy. Patients may perform tasks for fMRI studies, including finger tapping, photic stimulation with a flashing light, solving math problems, comparing shapes, giving a speech, or listening to and reciting lists of words during fMRI image acquisition. Patients also undergo daily fractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
