Stephanie Garcia-Tarodo1, Michael Funke1, Lisa Caballero1, Liang Zhu2, Manish N Shah3, Gretchen K Von Allmen1. 1. Pediatric Epilepsy Unit, Division of Child and Adolescent Neurology, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. 2. Clinical and Translational Sciences, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. 3. Departments of Pediatric Surgery and Neurosurgery, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is often incorporated into the presurgical work-up of children with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. There is growing literature on its role in improving selection for epilepsy surgery, particularly when brain MRI is "non-lesional" or in patients with recurrence or intractable seizures after epilepsy surgery. There are, however, no reports on the extrapolation of its role in the presurgical decision-making process of infants. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of infants who underwent MEG over a 10-year period at our center for presurgical work-up. We reviewed medical records to ascertain seizure history, work-up procedures including brain MRI and scalp EEG, and in the case of surgery, intracranial recordings, operative notes, and follow-up outcomes. RESULTS: We identified 31 infants (<2 years of age) who underwent MEG recordings. Despite EEG interictal readings showing patterns of generalized dysfunction in 80%, MEG was able to pinpoint the foci of epileptic activity in 45%. In the MRI-negative group, 44% had focal lateralized interictal spikes on MEG. The sensitivity of MEG to detect interictal epileptiform activity was 90%, and its ability to provide additional information was 28%. Among 18 infants who had surgery, 13 became seizure free at follow-up. The percentage of infants with a focal spike volume on MEG studies and a seizure-free outcome was 66%. CONCLUSIONS: MEG recordings in infants were found to be as sensitive for identifying seizure focus as other age groups, also supplying additional information to the decision-making process and validating its role in the presurgical work-up of infants with intractable epilepsy.
PURPOSE: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is often incorporated into the presurgical work-up of children with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. There is growing literature on its role in improving selection for epilepsy surgery, particularly when brain MRI is "non-lesional" or in patients with recurrence or intractable seizures after epilepsy surgery. There are, however, no reports on the extrapolation of its role in the presurgical decision-making process of infants. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of infants who underwent MEG over a 10-year period at our center for presurgical work-up. We reviewed medical records to ascertain seizure history, work-up procedures including brain MRI and scalp EEG, and in the case of surgery, intracranial recordings, operative notes, and follow-up outcomes. RESULTS: We identified 31 infants (<2 years of age) who underwent MEG recordings. Despite EEG interictal readings showing patterns of generalized dysfunction in 80%, MEG was able to pinpoint the foci of epileptic activity in 45%. In the MRI-negative group, 44% had focal lateralized interictal spikes on MEG. The sensitivity of MEG to detect interictal epileptiform activity was 90%, and its ability to provide additional information was 28%. Among 18 infants who had surgery, 13 became seizure free at follow-up. The percentage of infants with a focal spike volume on MEG studies and a seizure-free outcome was 66%. CONCLUSIONS: MEG recordings in infants were found to be as sensitive for identifying seizure focus as other age groups, also supplying additional information to the decision-making process and validating its role in the presurgical work-up of infants with intractable epilepsy.
Authors: Michael W Watkins; Ekta G Shah; Michael E Funke; Stephanie Garcia-Tarodo; Manish N Shah; Nitin Tandon; Fernando Maestu; Christopher Laohathai; David I Sandberg; Jeremy Lankford; Stephen Thompson; John Mosher; Gretchen Von Allmen Journal: Front Hum Neurosci Date: 2021-06-04 Impact factor: 3.169