Quantitative analysis of the olfactory system in pediatric epilepsy: a magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

PURPOSEOlfactory dysfunction is a well-known complication in epilepsy. Studies have demonstrated that olfactory bulb volume (OBV), olfactory tract length (OTL), and olfactory sulcus depth (OSD) can be reliably evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this study, we compared the OBV, OTL, and OSD values of children with epilepsy and those of healthy children (controls) of similar age. Our aim was to determine the presence of olfactory dysfunction in children with epilepsy and demonstrate the effects of the epilepsy type and treatment on olfactory function in these patients.METHODSCranial MRI images of 36 patients with epilepsy and 108 controls (3–17 years) were evaluated. The patients with epilepsy were divided into groups according to the type of disease and treatment method. Subsequently, OBV and OSD were measured from the coronal section and OTL from the sagittal section. The OBV, OTL, and OSD values were compared between the epilepsy group, subgroups, and controls.RESULTSOBV was significantly reduced in the children with epilepsy compared with the control group (P 0.05).

Keywords

• epilepsy
• magnetic resonance imaging
• olfactory bulb
• olfactory sulcus
• olfactory tract