Children with drug-resistant epilepsy seem to have a lobar pattern of glucose hypometabolism according to PET scans performed on 41 patients with the disorder.
- Baseline positron emission tomography (PET) scans were performed on children with drug resistant epilepsy with a median age of 4.7 years.
- A follow-up PET scan was done 4.3 years (median) later.
- Children with space-occupying lesion-related epilepsy were not included in the study, nor were patients with progressive neurological disorders.
- Twenty-four children had unilateral glucose hypometabolism and 13 had bilateral hypometabolism at baseline.
- Follow-up PET scans revealed that 63% had interval expansion of the hypometabolic region of their brain; said expansion was associated with persistent seizures.
Govil-Dalela T, Kumar A Behen ME, Chugani HT, Juhász C. Evolution of lobar abnormalities of cerebral glucose metabolism in 41 children with drug-resistant epilepsy [Published online ahead of print May 22, 2018]. Epilepsia. doi: 10.1111/epi.14404.
