Journal of IMAB (Dec 2012)

USE OF STRUCTURAL MRI IN PATIENTS WITH MEDICALLY REFRACTORY SEIZURES

  • Ara G. Kaprelyan,
  • Dimitar M. Minchev,
  • Alexandra J. Tzoukeva,
  • Margarita V. Grudkova,
  • Radoslav Georgiev

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 3
pp. 353 – 356

Abstract

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Introduction: Refractory epilepsy is common in patients with structural brain lesions including acquired disorders and genetic abnormalities. Recently, MRI is a precise diagnostic tool for recognition of different structural causes underlying medically intractable seizures.Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of MRI for detection of brain lesions associated with refractory epilepsy.Material and methods: 49 patients (20M and 29F; aged 48.6±24.7 years) with refractory epilepsy were included in the study. They presented with partial (46.0%), secondary (31.0%) or primary (23.0%) generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Clinical diagnosis was based on the revised criteria of ILAE. Structural neuroimaging (MRI), EEG recording, and neurological examination were performed.Results: MRI detected different structural brain abnormalities totally in 36 (73.5%) patients, including cerebral tumors (21p), cerebrovascular accidents (5p), hyppocampal sclerosis (3p), developmental malformations (2p), postencephalitic lesions (2p), arachnoid cysts (2p), and tuberous sclerosis (1p). Neuroimaging revealed normal findings in 13 (27.5%) cases. EEG recordings showed focal epileptic activity in 38 (77.6%) patients, including 33 cases with and 5 without structural brain abnormalities.Conclusion: This study revealed that structural brain lesions are commonly associated with refractory epilepsy. We suggested that MRI is a useful diagnostic method for assessment of patients with uncontrolled seizures or altered epileptic pattern.

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