title: MRI techniques: bilateral findings and "normal findings".
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques allow for significantly better imaging of the temporal lobe compared to computed tomography (CT) or other non-invasive modalities. For detection of foreign tissue lesions, MRI surpasses CT. For the highest non-invasive yield for detection of mesial temporal sclerosis, optimal sequences that should be employed are a heavily T1-weighted volumetric acquisition (to enable both volumetric calculation of hippocampal volume, and, if needed, intracranial volume), T2-weighted coronal sequences, with or without T2-mapping, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and, to exclude subtle susceptibility effects from hematoma or cavernoma, gradient echo scans. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) may show a decrease in N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) concentration, or NAA: Choline + creatine ratio. Functional MRI is a new and exciting tool that offers the promise of accurately localizing hemispheric functions; its role in the preoperative evaluation of temporal lobe seizures remains uncertain at present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, London Health Sciences Centre, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D012016:Reference Values; D012598:Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*