PRELIMINARY-OBSERVATIONS OF METABOLIC CHARACTERIZATION OF BILATERAL TEMPORAL EPILEPTIC FOCUS, USING PROTON MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY - 3 CASES

The authors report the case of 3 patients with bilateral temporal lobe epilepsy demonstrated by EEG and sphenoidal electrodes. Two out of th e 3 patients presented with childhood febrile convulsions. Their neuro logical and mental examination was normal. EEG showed spikes within th e anterior part of the 2 temporal lobes. CT scan and MRI showed no atr ophic lesion within the 2 temporal lobes. Proton magnetic resonance sp ectroscopy, performed within a cube of 8 cube-centimetres localized in the anterior part of the 2 temporal lobes showed a significant decrea se of N-acetyl-aspartate in the 2 temporal lobes of the 3 cases, compa red with controls matched with age, sex and laterality. Because N-acet yl-aspartate is a marker of the neuronal cells, the decreased level of NAA in the temporal area with spikes, may be rebated to a decreased n umber of neuronal cells, developing an abnormal tendency to seizures.