Positron emission tomographic study of postinfarction seizures.
Positron emission tomography (PET), using the steady-state technique with (15)O, was performed in 18 patients 4-14 months after a thromboembolic stroke in the territory of the middle cerebral artery. Eight patients developed seizures 2-12 months after infarction. The patients with and without late-onset epilepsy were comparable according to age, etiology, and location of the stroke, and the degree of neurological deficit. PET examination showed a more pronounced decrease in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and oxygen consumption (rCMRO2) in the infarcted area in the group with postapoplectic seizures compared to the nonepileptic stroke group. The PET findings were similar in the border areas of the infarcts and in the contralateral hemispheres of both groups. It cannot be determined if the more decreased rCBF and rCMRO2 in the infarcted zone of the group of patients with postinfarction epilepsy is the cause or the consequence of the seizures.
From the Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
J
J
De Reuck
From the Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
L
L
Algoed
From the Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
D
D
Decoo
From the Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
P
P
Boon
The Department of Medical Informatics, University Hospital of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
G
G
Van Maele
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Institute for Nuclear Sciences, Ghent, Belgium.
K
K
Strijckmans
Department of Electronics and Information Systems, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
I
I
Lemahieu