EEG-TRIGGERED ECHO-PLANAR FUNCTIONAL MRI IN EPILEPSY

We investigated whether: (1) EEG recordings could be successfully perf ormed in an MRI imager, (2) subclinical epileptic discharges could be used to trigger ultrafast functional MRI images, (3) artifact-free fun ctional MRI images could be obtained while the patient was having the EEG monitored, and (4) the functional MRI images so obtained would sho w focal signal increases in relation to epileptic discharges. We repor t our results in two patients who showed focally higher signal intensi ty, reflective of increased local blood flow, in ultrafast functional MRI timed to epileptic discharges recorded while the patients were in the imager and compared with images not associated with discharges. On e patient showed a focal increase despite a clinical and EEG history o f generalized discharges. This approach may have the potential to iden tify brain regions activated during brief focal epileptic discharges.