Mesial temporal lobe seizures may activate thermoregulatory mechanisms in humans: an infrared study of facial temperature.
Facial temperature T(f), an important link in cerebral thermoregulation and an ignored index of autonomic activity, was studied in three patients with mesial temporal epilepsy. Sets of infrared images were obtained automatically during seizures and also hourly, round-the-clock. For each patient, scan sets were sorted into: (1) ictal; (2) interictal with negligible motion; and (3) interictal with motion. Comparisons of mean, variance, and trend in each scan set among these groups showed considerable variability. However, significant trends in T(f) occurred (P<0.05) in two-thirds of seizures in one patient, three-fourths in another, and two-ninths in the third, consisting of steady decreases in T(f) beginning at peak seizure intensity R(max) and continuing into the postictus. Maximal ictal T(f) was greater than interictal T(f) (P<0.05), but it negatively correlated with R(max) in two subjects. The ictal changes in T(f), which may have a homeostatic role, suggest activation of thermoregulatory mechanisms during mesial temporal seizures.
Sunderam
Sridhar
S
Flint Hills Scientific L.L.C., 5020 West 15th Street, Suite A, Lawrence, KS 66049, USA.
Osorio
Ivan
I
D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005145:Face; D006801:Humans; D007259:Infrared Rays; D012881:Skin Temperature; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods; D017211:Treatment Failure
D000927:Anticonvulsants