The progress of epilepsies diagnosis has been great, but, amongst the diagnostic detailing that demand research, one of the most important is the essential lateralization and localization of epileptogenic zone, considered as the cerebral cortex region, that removed, will result in a free state of seizures. The present study aims to analyze the possible uses of proton spectroscopy for clinical and pre-surgical evaluation of focal extratemporal epilepsies, since this group presents the highest difficulty degree for lateralizing and locating epileptogenic zones. In almost all cases, a non invasive diagnosis can be performed using routine electroencephalography, videoelectroencephalography -considered as gold standard, and magnetic resonance imaging. However, when the results of these exams are contradictory, some patients need invasive techniques, as the intra-cranial video-EEG, using deep electrodes, sub-dural strip and grid, that are associated with increased diagnostic cost and risk of complications, as cerebral hemorrhages and intra-cranial infections. Proton spectroscopy appears as a possibility, given its capacity to evaluate cerebral metabolism, by N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cre) and choline (Cho) concentrations, amongst other metabolites. This non invasive method may provide time reduction of this evaluation and reliable level improvement for this topographical diagnosis. Key words: extratemporal neocortical epilepsies, diagnostic methods, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, pre-surgical evaluation.Métodos diagnósticos das epilepsias focais neocorticais extratemporais: presente e futuro RESUMO Tem sido grande o progresso no diagnóstico das epilepsias, mas dentre os detalhamentos diagnósticos a exigir pesquisas, estão a lateralização e a localização precisas da zona epileptogênica, considerada como a região do córtex cerebral que, removida, irá resultar num estado livre de crises. Por meio de revisão da literatura, o objetivo deste estudo é expor e analisar os métodos diagnósticos das epilepsias neocorticais extratemporais, dadas as características que as tornam mais complexas do que as epilepsias temporais visto que estas apresentam o maior grau de dificuldade para lateralização e localização das zonas epileptogênicas. Na maior parte dos casos, o diagnóstico pode ser firmado de forma não invasiva, empregando-se a eletrencefalografia de superfície, a vídeo-eletrencefalografia, considerada o padrão-ouro, e a imagem por ressonância magnética. No entanto, quando os resultados dessas investigações são contraditórios, alguns pacientes necessitam de técnicas invasivas, como o vídeo-EEG intracraniano, utilizando eletrodos profundos, placas ou estrias subdurais, que se associam ao aumento do custo diagnóstico e do risco de complicações, como as hemorragias cerebrais e as infecções intracranianas. A espectroscopia de prótons surge como uma possibilidade, dada sua capacidade de avaliar o metabolismo cerebral, por meio das alterações de N-acetil aspartato (NAA), creatina (Cr) e colina (Co), dentre outros ...

Introduction: Despite its high incidence, the characteristics of epilepsy in elderly patients have not yet been widely studied. The clinical presentation of the disease is mostly atypical and findings from complementary examinations provide little help with diagnosis. Few reports have characterized this group of individuals. Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients with epilepsy with onset after 60 years of age. Method: A descriptive study of a case series was designed. For this purpose, 50 patients diagnosed with epilepsy with onset after 60 years of age, treated at the outpatient epilepsy clinic of the Hospital da Restauração (Recife-PE), were consecutively assessed. Results: The 50 patients included in the study had an average age of 75.3 (±13) years, 30 (60.0%) were female and 20 (40.0%) were male. The average age at the first seizure episode was 72.5 (±11.5) years. Focal epilepsy seizures were the most predominant (83.8%). The occurrence of status epilepticus was low in this group (4.0%). Symptomatic epilepsy was the most frequent type, and most of the causes were of vascular etiology (43.0%). Carbamazepine was most commonly used for treatment, and the patients responded well to low-dose monotherapy. Electroencephalograms displayed normal results in many cases (50.0%), and neuroimaging showed nonspecific findings for most individuals (83.0%). Conclusion: Epilepsy in elderly patients is predominantly focal and symptomatic, with a low occurrence of status epilepticus and good therapeutic response. The encephalogram and neuroimaging results are frequently nonspecific.

Objective: To analyze the agreement rate of proton magnetic spectroscopy with magnetic resonance image (MRI) and surface electroencephalography (EEG) in extratemporal neocortical epilepsies. Methods: A cross-sectional study, type series of cases included 33 patients, age range 13-59 years old, of both gender, presenting structural alteration identified by MRI (75.8%) or by neurophysiologic techniques (72.7%). The variables were alterations of N-acetyl-aspartate/choline, N-acetyl-aspartate/creatine, choline/creatine, and N-acetyl-aspartate/choline+creatine coefficient of asymmetry. Results: Agreement rates of lateralization by coefficient of asymmetry of NAA/Cho, NAA/Cr, Co/Cr, and NAA/Cho+Cr with MRI, independent of alteration of surface EEG, were equal to 93.3, 57.9, 15.4, and 93.3%, respectively, modifying to 100, 33.3, 0, and 100%, in 16 patients, with lateralization agreement of MRI and surface EEG. Conclusion: Proton magnetic spectroscopy agreed better with MRI to lateralization of epileptogenic zone than with surface EEG.Key words: extratemporal neocortical epilepsy, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, EEG. RESUMOObjetivo: Analisar a taxa de concordância da espectroscopia de prótons de hidrogênio com imagem de ressonância magnética (IRM) e o eletrencefalograma (EEG) de superfície nas epilepsias neocorticais extratemporais. Métodos: Estudo transversal, série de casos, incluiu 33 pacientes, com idade de 13 a 59 anos, de ambos os gêneros, apresentando alteração estrutural à IRM (75,8%) ou neurofisiológica à (72,7%). As variáveis estudadas foram as alterações dos coeficientes de assimetria de N-acetil-aspartato/colina, N-acetil-aspartato/creatina, Colina/Creatina e N-acetil-aspartato/colina+creatina. Resultados: As taxas de concordância de lateralização dos coeficientes de assimetria de NAA/Co, NAA/Cr, Co/Cr e NAA/Co+Cr com a IRM, independentemente de alterações do EGG de superfície, passaram de 93,3, 57,9, 15,4, 93,3%, respectivamente, para 100, 33,3, zero Amongst the epilepsies, the focal, symptomatic or probably symptomatic, and neocortical necessarily require the localization and the lateralization of epileptogenic zone to establish diagnose and to institute clinical or surgical adequate treatment. Due to the characteristics of the extratemporal epilepsies, which make them more complex than the temporal epilepsies, they require more sensible and specific diagnostic methods. These methods include electroencephalography (EEG), magnetic resonance image (MRI), and, more recently, the hydrogen proton spectroscopy.