SPECT-DTPA as a tool for evaluating the blood-brain barrier in post-stroke seizures.
Stroke is a well-known cause for seizures in the adult population. Research in animal models indicates that abnormalities in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability can play a role in the development of spontaneous seizures or status epilepticus. The integrity of the BBB was investigated in patients with late post-stroke seizures by performing DTPA-SPECT studies to evaluate the correlation of BBB dysfunction in late post-stroke seizures. All patients with late-onset post-cortical stroke seizures hospitalized during 2009-2010 underwent a brain DTPA-SPECT within 72 h of the first seizure and were compared to a control group of stroke patients without seizures. Twenty-eight patients were included in the study. Twelve out of 14 (85.7%) in the group of seizure post-stroke patients had a positive brain DTPA-SPECT showing disruption of the BBB in the region of the stroke respective to four patients out of 14 (28.6%) in the control group of stroke patients without seizures (p = 0.001). The results of this study suggest that there is a correlation between late post-stroke seizures and BBB disruption, as revealed by DTPA-SPECT examination. Perhaps, this finding could lead to the hypothesis that the BBB disruption can predict developing seizures in patients with cortical stroke.
Department of Neurology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, 58100, Holon, Israel. gilad-ar@zahav.net.il
Ronit
R
Gilad
Yair
Y
Lampl
Anda
A
Eilam
Mona
M
Boaz
Mordechai
M
Loyberboim
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012640:Seizures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D016284:Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D016284:Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate