Neuroimaging of epilepsy: advances and practical applications

The role of modern neuroimaging in the management and treatment of patients with seizures and epilepsy continues to expand at a rapid pace. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now well established as the imaging technique of choice for patients with epilepsy, but new MR-based techniques, such as MR spectroscopy, functional (f)MRI, and fMRI/electroencephalogram, are more frequently being used to increase the yield of MRI in detecting abnormalities associated with epilepsy. In parallel, advances in radioactive-based techniques, such as single photon emission computed tomography, positron emission tomography, and magnetic source imaging, are improving the localization power of these techniques in candidates for epilepsy surgery. Advances in computer power are making possible the co-egistration in space of structural and functional information, thus improving the yield for the detection of lesions associated with epilepsy.