Gray matter abnormalities in pediatric focal and generalized epilepsy: A voxel-based morphometry study with MRI at 3.0 T

Abstract

Background : Our aims were to explore gray matter volume (GMV) abnormalities in focal and generalized epilepsy children compared to healthy group using a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methodology, and to determine whether the regions of any observed structural changes are correlated with clinical characteristics. Methods: Thirty-two epilepsy children ( 18 with focal epilepsy, 14 with generalized epilepsy) and 18 control subjects were recruited. All participants were imaged structural MRI scans with a 3.0 T MR system. VBM analysis using statistical parametric mapping 8 (SPM8) was first performed to detect gray matter reduction in focal and generalized epilepsy children compared to controls. Then we analyzed the correlations between GMV changes and clinical features of epilepsy patients. Results: In the patient-control group comparison of VBM, the left hippocampus, left thalamus, left paraHippocampal and bilateral putamen exhibited a significantly GMV decreased. In stratified analysis, the focal epilepsy children showed GMV reductions in left thalamus, left hippocampus and bilateral putamen relative to controls; the GMV exhibited extensive reductions in left parahippocampal, left putamen, and right supplementary motor area in generalized epilepsy children compared to controls. No significant difference was found in regions of GMV abnormalities correlated with disease durationand age of onset in both the focal and generalized epilepsy groups. Conclusions: By performing VBM to detect GMV changes in children, our study demonstrates the GMV reductions exist in different regions in focal and generalized epilepsy patients. Our study further provides structural neuroimaging evidence on the pathophysiology of focal and generalized epilepsy children.