Abstracts

Rationale: Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECT) is one of the common epileptic syndromes in children. Although it is known to have good prognosis with normal intelligence, some of the patients have cognitive impairment. In the present study, we performed prospective studies with follow-up neuroimaging and cognitive function tests 2 years after the initial work-up in children and adolescence with BCECT.Methods: Nineteen subjects with BCECT and 25 normal subjects aged 6 to 17 year were included. Patients and controls underwent quantitative magnetic resonance image (MRI), diffusion tensor image (DTI) at the time of diagnosis and 2 years after the initial work-up. Cognitive function tests were assessed by using Korean version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (K-WISC-III), Stroop and Trail-making tests (TMT), verbal and visual memory, verbal fluency and picture naming tests. Quantitative analysis of grey and white matter changes were compared between the initial and 2-year follow-up examinations in BCECT patients. Results: Patients with BCECT had significantly lower IQ scores compared to control subjects. Abnormal changes in grey and white matter in frontal and temporal areas were detected in BCECT patients compared to controls. Most of cognitive subdomains remained to be lower in the patient group without significant differences compared to the baseline. Patient groups with and without spontaneous epilepsy remission were compared for both cognitive and quantitative imaging results.Conclusions: The present study investigated changes in structural neural networks and cognitive functions in BCECT patients over the 2-year time interval. Cognitive dysfunction as well as microstructural changes in grey and white matters were observed in the early stage of epilepsy and abnormal patterns of growth continued over the 2-year time period.