title: Integrity of the corpus callosum in patients with benign temporal lobe epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Corpus callosum (CC) abnormalities are frequently reported in patients with refractory mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (rMTLE). However, whether CC structural alterations are related to the epileptic syndrome itself or to refractoriness is still unknown. Thus, we aimed to compare patterns of CC change in patients with rMTLE and benign MTLE (bMTLE), the latter of which represents a useful resource to better disentangle factors that contribute to refractoriness.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study group included 79 patients with bMTLE (mean age 43.2 ± 14. 8 years), 61 with rMTLE (mean age 45.2 ± 12.4 years) and 134 healthy volunteers. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were performed to measure thickness, mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA) over 50 regions of interest along the cross-sectional CC profile. Statistical analysis comprised analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post hoc Tukey's Honest Significant Difference test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that all imaging metrics of the CC splenium were altered in rMTLE patients compared to bMTLE and controls. We also found significantly reduced thickness and FA of the anterior CC in rMTLE compared to controls and that FA was reduced only in rMTLE compared to bMTLE. Patients with bMTLE did not differ from controls. Differences between disease subgroups were found in the midbody composed of sensorimotor fibers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found altered multimodal imaging metrics of the CC in rMTLE but not in bMTLE. These findings were independent of the radiologic presence of hippocampal sclerosis, suggesting that differences in the distribution of such alterations might be related to refractoriness.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the National Research Council (IBFM-CNR), Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Eugenia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2030-5552
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Caligiuri
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the National Research Council (IBFM-CNR), Catanzaro, Italy.|Institute of Neurology, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Labate
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the National Research Council (IBFM-CNR), Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherubini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mumoli
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferlazzo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Aguglia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the National Research Council (IBFM-CNR), Catanzaro, Italy.|Institute of Neurology, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quattrone
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology of the National Research Council (IBFM-CNR), Catanzaro, Italy.|Institute of Neurology, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gambardella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Corpus callosum; DTI; Imaging alterations; Temporal lobe epilepsy