Structural brain abnormalities in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy patients: volumetry and voxel-based morphometry.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to find structural brain abnormalities in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients.


METHODS
The volumes of the cerebrum, hippocampus and frontal lobe and the area of the corpus callosum's subdivisions were all semiautomatically measured, and then optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed in 19 JME patients and 19 age/gender matched normal controls.


RESULTS
The rostrum and rostral body of the corpus callosum and the left hippocampus were significantly smaller than those of the normal controls, whereas the volume of the JME's left frontal lobe was significantly larger than that of the controls. The area of the rostral body had a significant positive correlation with the age of seizure onset (r = 0.56, p = 0.012), and the volume of the right frontal lobe had a significant negative correlation with the duration of disease (r = -0.51, p = 0.025). On the VBM, the gray matter concentration of the prefrontal lobe (bilateral gyri rectus, anterior orbital gyri, left anterior middle frontal gyrus and right anterior superior frontal gyrus) was decreased in the JME group (corrected p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The JME patients showed complex structural abnormalities in the corpus callosum, frontal lobe and hippocampus, and also a decreased gray matter concentration of the prefrontal region, which all suggests there is an abnormal neural network in the JME brain.
Tae
Woo Suk
WS
Department of Neurology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hong
Seung Bong
SB
Joo
Eun Yun
EY
Han
Sun Jung
SJ
Cho
Jae-Wook
JW
Seo
Dae Won
DW
Lee
Jong-Min
JM
Kim
In Young
IY
Byun
Hong Sik
HS
Kim
Sun I
SI
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D020190:Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted