title: Clinical and experimental studies of epilepsy associated with focal cortical dysplasia.
abstract: The results of clinical and experimental studies on epilepsy associated with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) are presented. We have been interested in the findings of abnormal increases in the numbers of small vessels in specimens of FCD resected from epilepsy patients. In the clinical study of 13 patients with epilepsy, specimens of FCD or dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT) were examined using immunohistochemistry. The number of vessels in both lesions were greater than those in cortical specimens of autopsy cases without epilepsy. Because the vessels showed negative staining of VEGF, it was thought that the phenomenon of increase in the number of vessels was simply a hypervascularity, not a neovascularity. The local hypervascularity was expected to show local hyperperfusion in CBF-SPECT study, but interictal SPECT demonstrated local hypoperfusion and ictal SPECT showed hyperperfusion. This may have been caused by a functional change in those vessels. In the experimental study, we tried to make a new animal model of FCD to study epileptogenicity of FCD. When kainic acid had been infused into the neocortex in the neonatal rats, FCD was induced in adult Wistar rats. Histopathological examination revealed cortical dyslamination and abnormal neurons. On EEG, local spike bursts were elicited from the lesions, however, clinical seizures were not detected. Although the data are preliminary and observation over a longer period is required to determine whether spontaneous seizures will occur in this model, it is expected that this new model will be useful for studying epilepsy associated with FCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan. kmark113@asahikawa-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: Hiroshige
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hodozuka
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000633:toxicity; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D018302:Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000293:injuries
chemical_list: D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D007608:Kainic Acid