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Temporal lobe magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging following selective amygdalohippocampectomy for treatment-resistant epilepsy.

Spencer DC, Szumowski J, Kraemer DF, Wang PY, Burchiel KJ, Spielman DM

Department of Neurology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA. spencerd@ohsu.edu

OBJECTIVES: Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) may show circumscribed or extensive decreased brain N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine and phosphocreatine (Cr) in epilepsy patients. We compared temporal lobe MRSI in patients seizure-free (SzF) or with persistent seizures (PSz) following selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH) for medically intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). We hypothesized that PSz patients had more extensive temporal lobe metabolite abnormalities than SzF patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MRSI was used to study six regions of interest (ROI) in the bilateral medial and lateral temporal lobes in 14 mTLE patients following SAH and 11 controls. RESULTS: PSz patients had more temporal lobe ROI with abnormally low NAA/Cr than SzF patients, including the unoperated hippocampus and ipsilateral lateral temporal lobe. CONCLUSION: Postoperative temporal lobe MRSI abnormalities are more extensive if surgical outcome following SAH is poor. MRSI may be a useful tool to improve selection of appropriate candidates for SAH by identifying patients requiring more intensive investigation prior to epilepsy surgery. Future prospective studies are needed to evaluate the utility of MRSI, a predictor of successful outcome following SAH.

Published 3 June 2005 in Acta Neurol Scand, 112(1): 6-12.
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