Intracranial lipomas and epilepsy.
BACKGROUND
Intracranial lipomas are rare, mostly congenital lesions. Sporadic case reports suggest an association with focal epilepsy.


METHODS
All admissions to our epilepsy monitoring unit who had had brain MRI were reviewed for intracranial lipomas during 6 consecutive years.


RESULTS
Five patients with intracranial lipomas were identified (0.14%). Lipomas were located in the midline (3 cases), in the tectal region, and over the parietal cortex. Another intracranial pathology was identified in two patients causing the epilepsy in these cases (head trauma and hemimegaencephaly). In two other cases the Video EEG monitoring findings were not congruent with the location of the lipoma, but no other explanation for their epilepsy was found. In one patient a large midline lipoma extending into the right lateral ventricle was thought to be the cause of the patient's right hemispheric seizures. No other clinical symptoms or complications of the lipomas were noted.


CONCLUSIONS
Intracranial lipomas are rare, incidental, often asymptomatic findings and usually located near the midline. In only one of our five patients was the lipoma interpreted as the definite cause of the epilepsy.
Loddenkemper
Tobias
T
Section of Epilepsy, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Ave, S-51, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. loddent@ccf.org
Morris
Harold H
HH
Diehl
Beate
B
Lachhwani
Deepak K
DK
D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008067:Lipoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged