Partial epilepsy: A pictorial review of 3 TESLA magnetic resonance imaging features

Epilepsy is a disease with serious consequences for patients and society. In many cases seizures are sufficiently disabling to justify surgical evaluation. In this context, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the most valuable tools for the preoperative localization of epileptogenic foci. Because these lesions show a large variety of presentations (including subtle imaging characteristics), their analysis requires careful and systematic interpretation of MRI data. Several studies have shown that 3 Tesla (T) MRI provides a better image quality than 1.5 T MRI regarding the detection and characterization of structural lesions, indicating that high-field-strength imaging should be considered for patients with intractable epilepsy who might benefit from surgery. Likewise, advanced MRI postprocessing and quantitative analysis techniques such as thickness and volume measurements of cortical gray matter have emerged and in the near future, these techniques will routinely enable more precise evaluations of such patients. Finally, the familiarity with radiologic findings of the potential epileptogenic substrates in association with combined use of higher field strengths (3 T, 7 T, and greater) and new quantitative analytical post-processing techniques will lead to improvements regarding the clinical imaging of these patients. We present a pictorial review of the major pathologies related to partial epilepsy, highlighting the key findings of 3 T MRI.

Massive retinal gliosis: An unusual case with immunohistochemical study.

Massive retinal gliosis (MRG) is a rare, benign intraocular condition that results from the proliferation of well-differentiated glial cells. Immunohistochemically, these cells show positivity for glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP), neuron specific enolase (NSE), and S-100 protein. We encountered a case of a 45-year-old female with loss of vision in the left eye. She had a history of trauma to that eye two years ago. Enucleation was carried out, because malignancy was suspected due to retinal calcification. On the basis of light microscopy and immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed on the enucleated eye, it was diagnosed as massive retinal gliosis.

Epilepsy with focal cerebral calcification: role of magnetization transfer MR imaging.

BACKGROUND: Some patients with focal cerebral calcification (FCC) have no seizure or a benign course of epilepsy, whilst others with a similar lesion have uncontrolled epilepsy. AIMS: To look for perilesional hyperintensity, presumed to be indicative of gliosis, around FCC on magnetization transfer (MT) MRI and to correlate seizure outcome with its presence. SETTING AND DESIGN: Case control study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-one patients with epilepsy and 30 controls with single calcified cerebral lesion on CT were studied. Clinical and treatment details were noted. EEG and T1, T2, MT and contrast enhanced MRI were done. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Student's t test. RESULTS: On MT MRI, perilesional gliosis was seen around the focal calcified lesion in 17 (33.3%) patients. None of the controls had perilesional gliosis. The mean monthly seizure frequency was significantly higher in the 17 patients having perilesional gliosis (2.63+1.15) as compared to the 34 patients without it (0.59+0.63; P= 0.0014). Perilesional gliosis was seen in 8 out of 11 (72.7%) patients who were on 2 AEDs and in all 5 (100%) patients who were on 3 or more AEDs. It was present only in 4 (11.4%) out of 35 patients who were on one AED. CONCLUSION: Gliosis around a cerebral calcified lesion as seen on T1 weighted MT MRI indicates poor seizure control.