Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 18, 2026
Simultaneous PET/MRI Imaging During Mouse Cerebral Hypoxia-ischemia
Published on: September 20, 2015
Contribution of FDG-PET in epilepsy surgery: consistency and postoperative results compared with magnetic resonance
Selim Gokdemir1, Metin Halac, Sait Albayram
1Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey.
Aim:
Surgery is a treatment option for medically intractable epilepsy patients. Abnormalities in regional cerebral glucose metabolism, as identified by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) have predictive prognostic value in evaluating the outcome of epilepsy surgery. This study investigated the efficacy of FDG-PET for delineation of the epileptogenic zone (EZ) by comparing its consistency with other diagnostic tools and surgical outcome.
Material And Methods:
We analyzed the results of 121 consecutive patients evaluated for epilepsy surgery. FDG-PET results were crosschecked with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) results, as well as postoperative outcome and pathology.
Results:
FDG-PET findings of 75 patients (62 %) were concordant with MRI (Mc-Nemar-χ2 test p=0.024, Kappa=0.22). Further, the PET findings were consistent with EEG, and was statistically significant, according to Post-hoc test, in temporal epilepsy (TLE) group (χ2=8.21 P=0.04). Both investigations revealed localizing information in 56 (46.2%) patients. Twenty-six (72.2%) MRI-negative patients had hypometabolism on PET. The pathology of the 10 PET-negative patients was 5 cases of mesial temporal sclerosis, 2 cortical dysplasia, 2 gliosis and one tumor. Seven (70%) of these patients' lesions originated from the temporal lobe. FDG-PET had correctly predicted the EZ in 37 (86%) of 43 patients who underwent surgery.
Conclusion:
FDG-PET results may not be strongly associated with EZ but represent an additional tool in delineation of EZ during the noninvasive phase of presurgical evaluation.
