TEMPORAL GLUCOSE-METABOLISM IN BORDERLINE PERSONALITY-DISORDER

The pathophysiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is obscur e. Underlying organic factors such as epilepsy are suspected because c linical characteristics of the syndrome are similar to some manifestat ions of patients with complex partial seizures (CPS). Positron emissio n tomography (PET) with F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) reveals hypometa bolism in the area surrounding epileptic foci. To test the epilepsy hy pothesis in BPD, we have explored 10 patients with BPD and compared th em with 15 control subjects using PET with FDG. We conclude that PET p rovides no metabolic indication of temporal lobe epilepsy in BPD.