Voxel-based morphometry evaluation of patients with photosensitive juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.
We aim to investigate structural brain abnormalities in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients with photosensitivity (PS). Sixty JME patients, 19 (32%) of whom were photosensitive, were submitted to 1.5T magnetic resonance voxel-based morphometry (VBM). The control group (CTL) consisted of 30 sex-matched healthy volunteers. JME patients with (JME-PS) and without (JME-NPS) PS did not differ in their duration of disease, treatment or seizure control. VBM revealed significantly reduced bilateral gray matter volume (GMV) in thalami, insula cortices and cerebellar hemispheres; while significantly increased GMV was observed in the right superior frontal, orbitofrontal and medial frontal gyri of the JME group compared to CTL. JME-PS had reduced bilateral GMV of visual cortices when compared with CTL; while it was not seen among JME-NPS patients. Reduced left hippocampus and left inferior frontal gyrus volume was observed among JME-PS compared with JME-NPS. This study demonstrates structural abnormalities beyond the limits of the frontal lobes and provides evidence for the role of the occipital cortex in human PS, reinforcing the existence of functional-anatomic ictogenic networks in JME and the concept of 'system epilepsies'.
Lin
Katia
K
Unidade de Pesquisa e Tratamento das Epilepsias, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP-EPM), São Paulo, SP, Brazil. linkatia@uol.com.br
Jackowski
Andrea Parolin
AP
Carrete
Henrique
H
de Araújo Filho
Gerardo Maria
GM
Silva
Henrique Hattori
HH
Guaranha
Mirian Salvadori Bittar
MS
Guilhoto
Laura Maria Figueiredo Ferreira
LM
Bressan
Rodrigo Affonseca
RA
Yacubian
Elza Márcia Targas
EM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020190:Myoclonic Epilepsy, Juvenile / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D018579:Patient Selection; D020795:Photophobia / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*