EEG-fMRI in Children with Pharmacoresistant Focal Epilepsy

De Tiège, Xavier
Laufs, Helmut
Boyd, Stewart G.
Harkness, William
Allen, Philip J.
Clark, Chris A.
Connelly, Alan
Cross, J. Helen

^*Neuroscience Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
†Radiology and Physics Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
‡Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
§Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
^∥National Society for Epilepsy and Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
^¶Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. X. De Tiège at Neuroscience Unit, Institute of Child Health, London, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted October 30, 2006.

Epilepsia 48(2):p 385-389, February 2007.

Summary

Purpose

To evaluate the usefulness of EEG-combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) to localize epileptogenic sources.

Methods

Six children (age 8–15 years) with lesional or nonlesional pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy were studied.

Results

We found significant activations in four children, activation and deactivation in one child, and widespread deactivation in another. In four children, activations colocalized with the presumed location of the epileptic focus, one of which was confirmed by intracranial EEG.

Conclusions

EEG-fMRI is a promising tool to noninvasively localize epileptogenic regions in children with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy.