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Neuropathology of epilepsy
Eleonora Aronica1, Angelika Mühlebner2
1Department of Neuropathology, Academic Medical Center and Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland, the Netherlands.
Handbook of Clinical Neurology
|October 9, 2017
Summary
Epilepsy surgery offers insights into brain abnormalities causing seizures. Neuropathology combined with molecular analysis improves diagnosis and understanding of epilepsy pathogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Neuroscience
- Pathology
Background:
- Epilepsy affects 50 million globally, characterized by recurrent seizures from aberrant neuronal networks.
- Epilepsy encompasses diverse syndromes with varied etiopathogenesis.
- Advancements in neuroimaging and epilepsy surgery facilitate identification and removal of structural brain lesions contributing to seizures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detail histopathologic findings in epilepsy surgery patients.
- To explore nonneoplastic pathologies like hippocampal sclerosis, cortical malformations, Sturge-Weber syndrome, and Rasmussen encephalitis.
- To review molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying hyperexcitability in epilepsy.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of surgically resected brain tissue from epilepsy patients.
- Integration of traditional histopathology with molecular genetics and functional analysis.
- Characterization of structural brain abnormalities associated with epilepsy.
Main Results:
- Identification of a wide spectrum of histopathologic findings in epilepsy surgery specimens.
- Improved diagnosis and classification of structural lesions through integrated analysis.
- New insights into the pathogenesis and epileptogenesis of epilepsy.
Conclusions:
- Surgical neuropathology provides critical data for understanding epilepsy.
- Molecular and cellular mechanisms of hyperexcitability are increasingly understood.
- This approach enhances diagnosis, classification, and pathogenesis insights for epilepsy.
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