Correlation of Severity of PET Hypometabolism with EEG Delta Activity in Patients with Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
Abstract number :
1.067
Submission category :
Year :
2001
Submission ID :
693
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2001, 06:00 AM
Authors :
E. Altay Erbayat, MD, Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO; H. Attarian, MD, Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO; M. Gallagher, MD, PhD, Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO; F. Dehdasti, MD, Nuclear Medicine, Washington
RATIONALE: Although PET-identified hypometabolism and EEG delta activity may have similar underlying mechanisms, their correlation in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy is not known. This relationship is pertinent to the understanding of cerebral dysfunction and possibly epileptogenesis in temporal lobe epilepsy.
METHODS: We studied 100 temporal lobes of 50 consecutive patients with clinical fingings and video/EEG monitoring results consistent with temporal lobe epilepsy. Temporal lobe PET hypometabolism was categorized as none, mild, moderate, or severe; EEG delta activity from prolonged inpatient video/EEG was categorized as none, infrequent (one episode or less/hour), frequent (greater than one episode/hour), or continuous. Data was stored in a SPSS database and analysed using the Spearman rho statistic for correlation of categorical variables.
RESULTS: Severity of temporal lobe hypometabolism on PET was highly significantly correlated with amount of delta activity in the interictal EEG ( r = 0.44, significant at a level of p [lt] 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Severity of temporal lobe PET hypometabolism is closely correlated with the ammount of EEG delta slowing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. This observation has implications for further elucidation of the underlying mechanisms of hypometabolism and modulation of EEG activity, as well as clinical relevance for localization of the epileptogenic region in the presurgical evaluation.