Dysmorphic neurons in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
We studied morphologic characteristics of dysmorphic neurons in the hippocampus of seven patients with medically intractable TLE and compare histological, clinical, and imaging features with ten TLE patients with classical hippocampal sclerosis without abnormal cells. Such dysmorphic neurons were observed in the hilus of the dentate gyrus and were characterized by giant or misshapen cells with abnormal cytoskeletal structure and atypical dendritic processes that resembled the dysmorphic neurons from cortical dysplasias. Specimens with dysmorphic cells also contained other cytoarchitectural abnormalities including bilamination of the dentate granular cell layer (four out seven cases), and the presence of Cajal-Retzius cells in the dentate gyrus or Ammon's horn (five out seven cases). There were no statistically significant differences regarding the age at onset, duration of epilepsy, and hippocampal asymmetry ratio between patients with or without dysmorphic cells. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that a higher proportion of patients with dysmorphic neurons continued to present auras after surgery, when compared with patients without those cells.
da Silva
Alexandre Valotta
AV
Universidade Federal de São Paulo/UNIFESP, Rua Botucatu, 862-São Paulo, 04023-900 SP, Brazil. valotta.nexp@epm.br
Houzel
Jean Christophe
JC
Targas Yacubian
Elza Marcia
EM
Carrete
Henrique
H
Sakamoto
Américo Ceiki
AC
Priel
Margareth Rose
MR
Martins
Heloise Helena
HH
Oliveira
Ivanilson
I
Garzon
Eliana
E
Stavale
João Norberto
JN
da Silva Centeno
Ricardo
R
Machado
Helio
H
Cavalheiro
Esper Abrão
EA
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology; D002549:Diffuse Cerebral Sclerosis of Schilder / Q000503:physiopathology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology