The temporal lobe is the most epileptogenic region of the brain. 90% of patients with temporal ictal epileptomorphic EEG activity have a variable long history of seizures. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) may be useful in identifying an epileptogenic focus in patients with epilepsy without apparent structural pathology at neuroimaging.Objective: to systematize the results of early studies on this issue.Materials and methods. An electronic search was carried out in two English-language (Medline, PubMed) and one Russian-language (eLIBRARY.RU) databases. The search queries found 18,019 citations, by which 12 full-text articles were selected.Results and discussion. The main criteria for the diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy by MRS is to lower the level of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), the ratio of NAA to creatinine + choline (NAA/(Cr + Cho) in the brain region where there is neuronal death or damage, as well as a change in the level of myo-inositol, the elevated level of which indicates the presence of an epileptogenic focus, while the decreased one shows the spread of pathological activity to the adjacent tissues.Conclusion. This review will contribute to a better diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy, as well as to the intravital noninvasive detection of metabolic changes in the brain long before the development of structural pathology.
Childhood temporal lobe epilepsy: correlation between electroencephalography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy: a case–control study