Extratemporal Damage in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Magnetization Transfer Adds Information to Volumetric MR Imaging

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MTS is characterized by gliosis and atrophy of the hippocampus and related limbic structures. However, the damage is not limited to those structures with atrophy and has been reported in extratemporal regions. Because volumetric studies are nonspecific, the pathophysiology of the brain damage remains to be solved. MTI is an MR imaging technique more sensitive to subtle neuropathologic changes than conventional MR imaging. Here we combined MTI with VBM analysis to evaluate extratemporal damage in patients with TLE.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 23 healthy controls and 21 patients with TLE with mean ages, respectively, of 37.6 ± 10.9 and 38.6 ± 9.02 years. All subjects had a full clinical follow-up and MR imaging. We processed the images with VBM for volumetric analysis of WM and GM, as well as with voxel-based analysis of MTR for macromolecular integrity analysis.

RESULTS: In addition to MTR decrease in the temporal lobes, we found a significant decrease in GM and WM volumes. In the WM, the MTR decrease was correlated to volume loss detected by VBM, indicating that brain atrophy may explain part of the MTR decrease. We also found areas in which the MTR decrease was not associated with volume loss, suggesting an additional pathophysiologic process other than neuronal loss and atrophy underlying the MTR changes.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis that there are widespread lesions in the brain, including the corpus callosum and the frontal lobe, affecting both GM and WM.