In vivo study indicating loss of intracortical inhibition in tumor-associated epilepsy.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation was performed in 2 patients with focal motor seizures in the right hand caused by a circumscribed tumor process affecting the left precentral gyrus. In both cases, paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation showed a loss of intracortical inhibition for interstimulus intervals of 2 to 4msec that was replaced by an enormous facilitation in the lesioned hand motor cortex. The uniform impairment of inhibitory mechanisms in epileptogenic tumors with different histologies suggests a common, nonspecific cause of tumor-related epileptogenesis.
Department of Neurology, Charité, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany. kerstin.irlbacher@charite.de
Kerstin
K
Irlbacher
Stephan A
SA
Brandt
Bernd-Ulrich
BU
Meyer
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition