Diagnostic challenges in the evaluation of chronic epilepsy-related surgical neuropathology.
For patients with pharmacoresistent epilepsy, surgical excision is often an effective means of controlling and sometimes curing the seizures. Excised tissue frequently provides information regarding the precise etiology of the epilepsy. This review examines some of the more commonly encountered pathologies encountered in the neuropathology arena in this clinical venue. The most common identifiable causes of chronic epilepsy including low-grade tumors, hippocampal sclerosis, malformation of cortical development (cortical dysplasia), and remote infarcts will be discussed. Differential diagnostic difficulties will be examined.
Prayson
Richard A
RA
Department of Anatomic Pathology, Cleveland Clinic, Section of Neuropathology, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. praysor@ccf.org
D020520:Brain Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D054220:Malformations of Cortical Development / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D012598:Sclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology