Morphometric analysis program: Detection of epileptic foci in young children using an adult normative database: Initial experience

Abstract

Objective To report our initial experience using an adult‐template MAP in drug‐resistant focal epilepsy in five children with apparently normal MRI. Methods Patients selected were highly suspicious of harboring focal structural lesions and had negative brain MRI studies. MAP was performed using a locally obtained adult database as a template. Results were reviewed by two neuroradiologists. Pertinence of MAP‐positive areas was confirmed by the focal epileptic hypothesis or by pathology when possible (J Neuroradiol, 39, 2012, 87). Visual analysis was performed using Mango Software. MRI studies were reanalyzed at the workstation with knowledge of the clinical suspicion to confirm or discard the possibility of FCD. Results Five patients aged 19‐48 months were studied, all with initial 3T MRI studies interpreted as normal. All had focal epileptic hypothesis with coherence of clinical seizure characterization and electroencephalographic findings. In two patients, histology showed type 1 FCD. Due to the age of our subjects, the junction map always highlighted the subcortical white matter in relationship to maturity differences. FCD was identified as asymmetric U‐shaped highlighted regions in the junction map. Significance FCD is the most frequent pathology reported in pediatric epilepsy surgery series (Epileptic Disord, 18, 2016, 240). Significant number of FCDs may be overlooked on MRIs, reducing the odds of seizure freedom after surgery (Epilepsy Res, 89, 2010, 310). MAP is an image postprocessing method for enhanced visualization of FCD; however, when using an adult template in developing brains, normal subcortical regions may be highlighted as pathological. Creating a pediatric template is difficult, due to the need for general anesthesia to acquire the MRI database. Here, we were able to show that MAP identified FCDs as asymmetric “U‐” shaped highlighted regions in the junction maps of all five patients, which may indicate that obtaining childhood databases for this purpose may not be necessary and that adult ones suffice for diagnosis of FCD.

Lesion Detection Through MRI Postprocessing in Pathology-Proven Focal Cortical Dysplasia: Experience at a Single Institution in the Republic of Korea

“…It was particularly interesting that the MAP for FCD diagnosis might be more applicable with various types of references; for example, a previous pilot study used the MAP and identified FCD in a childhood database using an adult template. 15 However, a well-designed study with a large population is required to obtain ample evidence about the reliable common reference.…”