Advanced morphological neuroimaging study in lateral temporal lobe epilepsy: A multicentric study.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Neuroimaging
• Epileptology

Background:

• Lateral temporal lobe epilepsy (lTLE) is a rare neurological disorder.
• It is characterized by auditory auras, receptive aphasia, and typically normal MRI findings.
• Sporadic cases (slTLE) are particularly uncommon, necessitating focused investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate potential cerebral morphological alterations in patients with sporadic lateral temporal lobe epilepsy (slTLE).
• To compare brain structure between slTLE patients and healthy controls using advanced neuroimaging techniques.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 40 slTLE patients and 38 healthy controls were recruited from four Italian epilepsy centers.
• Brain MRI T1-weighted images were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), cortical thickness (CT), and local gyrification index (lGI).
• Statistical analysis was performed using SPM8 and FreeSurfer 5.3 with a conservative threshold (p<0.05, FWE correction).

Main Results:

• No significant differences in VBM, CT, or lGI were found between the slTLE group and healthy controls at the specified statistical threshold.
• The findings suggest that gross cerebral morphological alterations may not be evident in sporadic lTLE using these methods.

Conclusions:

• This multicenter study did not identify significant cerebral morphological differences in sporadic lTLE.
• Further large-scale, multicenter investigations are crucial to fully characterize this rare epilepsy phenotype and its underlying neurobiology.