MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IN CHILDHOOD INTRACTABLE PARTIAL EPILEPSIES - PATHOLOGICAL CORRELATIONS

We conducted a retrospective single-blind study assessing the value of MRI in 44 children surgically treated for partial epilepsy, and corre lated the MRI findings with the pathology in all cases. MRI revealed a bnormalities in concordance with the clinical and electroencephalograp hic data in 84% of patients. Developmental neuronal migration patholog y was present in 25% of patients and was relatively more common in the sensorimotor cortex. There was hippocampal sclerosis in 50% of patien ts with temporal lobe resection; however, only two of the 10 children with hippocampal sclerosis were below the age of 12 years. Similarly, ganglioglial tumors were more common than astrocytomas in children bel ow age 12. These results indicate that MRI is sensitive in the detecti on of pathologic abnormalities in most pediatric candidates for epilep sy surgery, and that the distribution and type of pathology appear to be age related in this population.