title: Disrupted anatomic white matter network in left mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Brain imaging studies have shown widespread structural abnormalities in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) within and beyond the affected temporal lobe, suggesting an altered network. Graph theoretical analysis based on white matter tractography has provided a new perspective to evaluate the connectivity of the brain. The alterations in the topologic properties of a whole brain white matter network in patients with TLE remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the white matter network in a cohort of patients with left TLE and mesial temporal sclerosis (mTLE) compared to healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anatomic brain networks of 16 patients with left mTLE were compared to those of 21 healthy controls. A white matter structural network was constructed from diffusion tensor tractography for each participant, and network parameters were compared between the patient and control groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with left mTLE exhibited concurrent decreases of global and local efficiencies and widespread reduction of regional efficiency in ipsilateral temporal, bilateral frontal, and bilateral parietal areas. Communication hubs, such as the left precuneus, were also altered in patients with mTLE compared to controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate white matter network disruption in patients with left mTLE, supporting the notion that mTLE is a systemic brain disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beaulieu
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Donald W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D056784:Leukoencephalopathies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012598:Sclerosis; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; Graph theory; Network; Temporal lobe epilepsy; Tractography