Reduced inhibition within primary motor cortex in patients with poststroke focal motor seizures.
BACKGROUND
Following an ischemic brain lesion, the affected cortex undergoes structural and functional changes that may lead to increased cortical excitability or decreased inhibitory neuronal activity, resulting in the occurrence of poststroke epileptic seizures in 6 to 10% of patients with stroke.


METHODS
To assess motor cortical excitability, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to determine the silent period (SP) duration in 84 consecutive patients with ischemic stroke.


RESULTS
In a subpopulation of six patients (38 to 72 years old) a significant decrease of the SP duration (mean 116 +/- 14 msec) was detected in either the arm or the leg on the affected side as compared to the corresponding unaffected limb (mean 231 +/- 32 msec). This electrophysiologic abnormality was clinically associated with focal motor seizures in five of the six patients, whereas none of the other 76 patients with normal or prolonged SP durations developed seizures or epilepsy.


CONCLUSIONS
Silent period shortening in this group reflects decreased inhibitory activity that may partly be related to functional or structural impairment of GABAergic interneurons. TMS may be of value for determining patients with stroke at risk for developing poststroke seizures.
Kessler
Kirn R
KR
Department of Neurology, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. k.kessler@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Schnitzler
Alfons
A
Classen
Joseph
J
Benecke
Reiner
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D004576:Electromyography; D020938:Epilepsy, Partial, Motor / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*