Article
Morphometric analysis program: Detection of epileptic foci in young children using an adult normative database: Initial experience
Fecha
2021Registro en:
Epilepsia Open, 2021, vol.6:235–238.
Autor
Stecher, Ximena
Schonstedt, Valeria
Manterola, Carla
Velásquez, Álvaro
Zamorano, Francisco
Carreño, Fernando
Castillo, Mauricio
Institución
Resumen
Objective: To report our initial experience using an adult-template MAP in drugresistant focal epilepsy in five children with apparently normal MRI.
Methods: Patients selected were highly suspicious of harboring focal structural lesions and had negative brain MRI studies. MAP was performed using a locally obtained adult database as a template. Results were reviewed by two neuroradiologists.
Pertinence of MAP-positive areas was confirmed by the focal epileptic hypothesis
or by pathology when possible (J Neuroradiol, 39, 2012, 87). Visual analysis was
performed using Mango Software. MRI studies were reanalyzed at the workstation
with knowledge of the clinical suspicion to confirm or discard the possibility of FCD.
Results: Five patients aged 19-48 months were studied, all with initial 3T MRI studies interpreted as normal. All had focal epileptic hypothesis with coherence of clinical seizure characterization and electroencephalographic findings. In two patients,
histology showed type 1 FCD. Due to the age of our subjects, the junction map always highlighted the subcortical white matter in relationship to maturity differences.
FCD was identified as asymmetric U-shaped highlighted regions in the junction map.
Significance: FCD is the most frequent pathology reported in pediatric epilepsy surgery
series (Epileptic Disord, 18, 2016, 240). Significant number of FCDs may be overlooked
on MRIs, reducing the odds of seizure freedom after surgery (Epilepsy Res, 89, 2010,
310). MAP is an image postprocessing method for enhanced visualization of FCD; however, when using an adult template in developing brains, normal subcortical regions may
be highlighted as pathological. Creating a pediatric template is difficult, due to the need
for general anesthesia to acquire the MRI database. Here, we were able to show that
MAP identified FCDs as asymmetric “U-” shaped highlighted regions in the junction
maps of all five patients, which may indicate that obtaining childhood databases for this
purpose may not be necessary and that adult ones suffice for diagnosis of FCD.