BRAIN GLUCOSE-UTILIZATION IN BAND HETEROTOPIA - SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY OF DOUBLE CORTEX

Regional brain glucose utilization was investigated with positron emis sion tomography and fluorodeoxyglucose in 2 patients with a seizure di sorder associated with diffuse band heterotopia, a condition known as ''double cortex.'' Although 1 patient was examined shortly after the o nset of the first seizures, the other had a long history of intractabl e epilepsy before examination, Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a s ymmetric and generalized band of ectopic gray matter and an overlying normal-looking cortex, without focal abnormality, Metabolic studies yi elded comparable results in both patients, with similar and even highe r glucose uptake in the layer of gray matter heterotopia compared to t he normal cortex, These data suggest the persistence of some synaptic activity in the heterotopic neurons, which seems unaffected by age or by the timecourse of epilepsy,