OCCIPITAL POLE AREA AND LANGUAGE DOMINANCE

A previous report demonstrated a relationship between asymmetries of o ccipital lobe length measured on magnetic resonance images (MRIs) and the hemisphere verified as dominant for language. This study sought to discern whether asymmetry in occipital pole area is more predictive o f the hemisphere dominant for language. Language dominance was identif ied by the Wada test in 55 patients evaluated for surgical treatment o f epilepsy. In a blinded fashion, an examiner measured bilateral occip ital pole area on MRIs for each patient. Asymmetry of the occipital po le area on the MRI made at 10 mm above the tentorium was significantly related to language dominance. This two-dimensional analysis was bett er than previously described linear measurements in discriminating pat ients with left-hemisphere dominance for language.