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Updated: Aug 16, 2026
A Multimodal Imaging- and Stimulation-based Method of Evaluating Connectivity-related Brain Excitability in Patients with Epilepsy
Published on: November 13, 2016
Magnetization transfer ratio is unable to lateralize epileptic foci in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy
L M Li1, S Narayanan, G B Pike
1Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
Background And Purpose:
A preliminary report suggested that magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) was useful to lateralize epileptic foci in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We attempted to confirm this finding in a larger group by investigating the relationship between MTR of mesial temporal structures and seizure lateralization in patients with refractory TLE.
Methods:
We compared the MTR of amygdalae and hippocampi of 10 patients with unilateral TLE to values obtained from 10 healthy control participants.
Results:
Three of 10 patients with TLE had MTR values that were 2 SD below the normal mean; the MTR abnormality was concordant with electroclinical lateralization in only one of the three.
Conclusion:
We conclude that MTR measurements of amygdalae and hippocampi are not useful for lateralization of TLE.
