Comparative Study for the Diagnostic Usefulness of Brain MRI and CT in Children with Seizure / 대한소아신경학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was performed to know and compare the diagnostic usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) and Computed Tomography(CT) for the evaluation of patients with seizure. METHODS: We studied retrospectively 96 children who visited Hanyang University Hospital due to seizure and took a brain CT between January 1996 and June 1999, and 60 children who visited Hanyang University Hospital due to seizure and took a brain MRI between June 1999 and March 2002. All children who were enrolled in this study divided into few groups according to seizure type and EEG findings. RESULTS: Among 96 children who took a brain CT, 12 patients had brain abnormalities on CT, and among 60 children took a brain MRI, 13 patients had brain abnormalities on MRI. Abnormalities on CT were more frequently seen in children with focal seizure and/or focal abnormalities on EEG, but contrarily in MRI, abnormalities were more frequently seen in children with generalized seizure. CONCLUSION: Even the MRI is more expensive to be taken than the CT, MRI isrecommended when there is a need to evaluate the causes of seizures even for thepatients with generalized seizure as a result of our study.