title: Temporal Cortex Morphology in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Patients and Their Asymptomatic Siblings.
abstract: Temporal cortex abnormalities are common in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE+HS) and believed to be relevant to the underlying mechanisms. In the present study, we set out to determine the familiarity of temporal cortex morphologic alterations in a cohort of MTLE+HS patients and their asymptomatic siblings. A surface-based morphometry (SBM) method was applied to process MRI data acquired from 140 individuals (50 patients with unilateral MTLE+HS, 50 asymptomatic siblings of patients, and 40 healthy controls). Using a region-of-interest approach, alterations in temporal cortex morphology were determined in patients and their asymptomatic siblings by comparing with the controls. Alterations in temporal cortex morphology were identified in MTLE+HS patients ipsilaterally within the anterio-medial regions, including the entorhinal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, and temporal pole. Subtle but similar pattern of morphology changes with a medium effect size were also noted in the asymptomatic siblings. These localized alterations were related to volume loss that appeared driven by shared contractions in cerebral cortex surface area. These findings indicate that temporal cortex morphologic alterations are common to patients and their asymptomatic siblings and suggest that such localized traits are possibly heritable.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics Department, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Saud
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alhusaini
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics Department, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Whelan
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Colin P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Doherty
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics Department, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland Neurology Division.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Delanty
authors.affiliation: Brain Morphomerty Laboratory, Epilepsy Programme, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fitzsimons
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics Department, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Gianpiero L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Cavalleri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D035781:Siblings; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: asymptomatic siblings; heritability; hippocampal sclerosis; temporal lobe epilepsy