Background:
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) comprises the most common form of
symptomatic refractory focal epilepsy in adults. Accurate lateralization and localization of the
epileptogenic focus are a significant prerequisite for determining surgical candidacy once the
patient has been deemed medically intractable. Structural MR imaging, clinical,
electrophysiological, and neurophysiological data have an established role in the localization of the
epileptogenic foci. Nevertheless, hippocampal sclerosis cannot be detected on MR images in more
than 30% of patients with TLE, and the presurgical assessment remains controversial.
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Discussion: In the last years, advanced MR imaging techniques, such as 1H-MRS, DWI, DTI,
DSCI, and fMRI, may provide valuable additional information regarding the physiological and
metabolic characterization of brain tissue. MR imaging has shifted towards functional and
molecular imaging, thus, promising to improve the accuracy regarding the lateralization and the
localization of the epileptogenic focus. Additionally, nuclear medicine studies, such as SPECT and
PET imaging modalities, have become an asset for the decoding of brain function and activity, and
can be diagnostically helpful as well, since they provide valuable data regarding the altered
metabolic activity of the seizure foci.
Conclusion:
Overall, advanced MRI, SPECT, and PET imaging techniques are increasingly
becoming an essential part of TLE diagnostics, when the epileptogenic area is not identified on
structural MRI or when structural MRI, clinical, and electrophysiological findings are not in
concordance.