I-123 iofetamine single photon emission tomography in school-age children with difficult-to-control seizures

Interictal I-123 iofetamine (IMP) single photon emission tomography (SPECT) was performed in 15 children with difficult-to-control partial or generalized seizures. SPECT studies were compared with magnetic resonance imaging and CT in seven patients, with magnetic resonance imaging only in five, and with CT only in three. Electroencephalography was performed on all subjects, including invasive studies in nine. SPECT was abnormal in six patients. Magnetic resonance and/or CT studies were abnormal in two of the six patients. The other four patients with abnormal SPECT imaging studies had four magnetic resonance and two CT studies that were normal. The SPECT abnormality corresponded to EEG localization in each of the six cases. Lesions localized on SPECT were in or near the temporal lobes. Five other patients with normal SPECT had well-localized abnormalities on EEG. Four magnetic resonance and five CT studies were also negative in these five cases. Four patients whose EEGs did not show adequate lateralization had four normal SPECT, two normal CT, and three normal magnetic resonance studies. In children as in adults, IMP SPECT imaging shows promise in the localization of seizure foci in or near the temporal lobes.