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Cortical and subcortical volume differences between Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes and Childhood Absence
Hisako Fujiwara1, Jeffrey Tenney1, Darren S Kadis1
1Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave. Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA; Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave. Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.
Insights
Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS) and Childhood Absence Epilepsy (CAE) show distinct grey matter differences in children. These structural variations may explain the differing clinical profiles of these common childhood epilepsy syndromes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatric Neurology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS) and Childhood Absence Epilepsy (CAE) are common childhood epilepsy syndromes with similar age-dependencies but different seizure and EEG patterns.
- Understanding the underlying neuroanatomical differences is crucial for differentiating these conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate significant differences in grey matter volume among children with BECTS, CAE, and typically developing controls.
- To explore the relationship between age and grey matter volume in these groups.
Main Methods:
- Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to compare grey matter volume in 21 BECTS patients, 18 CAE patients, and 31 controls.
- Whole brain and regions of interest (ROI) analyses were conducted, with statistical comparisons using t-tests and ANOVA.
- The effect of age on grey matter volume was also examined.
Main Results:
- Children with CAE showed significantly decreased grey matter volume in the right inferior frontal and anterior temporal areas compared to BECTS and controls.
- Grey matter volume in the posterior thalami was increased in CAE compared to the other two groups.
- A negative correlation between age and bifrontal grey matter volume was observed in controls, but not in epilepsy groups.
Conclusions:
- Significant grey matter volume differences exist between BECTS and CAE.
- These localized structural brain differences may underlie the distinct clinical presentations of these childhood epilepsy syndromes.
Objective:
Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS) and Childhood Absence Epilepsy (CAE) are the most common childhood epilepsy syndromes and they share a similar age-dependence. However, the two syndromes clearly differ in seizures and EEG patterns. The aim of this study is to investigate whether children of the same age with BECTS, CAE and typically-developing children have significant differences in grey matter volume that may underlie the different profiles of these syndromes.
Methods:
Twenty one patients with newly-diagnosed BECTS and 18 newly diagnosed and drug naïve CAE were included and compared to 31 typically-developing children. Voxel-based morphometry was utilized to investigate grey matter volume differences among BECTS, CAE, and controls. We also examined the effect of age on grey matter volume in all three groups. In addition to the whole brain analysis, we chose regions of interest analysis based on previous literature suggesting the involvement of these regions in BECTS or CAE. The group differences of grey matter volume was tested with 2-sample t-test for between two groups' comparisons and ANOVA for three group comparisons.
Results:
In the whole brain group comparisons, the grey matter volume in CAE was significantly decreased in the areas of right inferior frontal and anterior temporal compared to BECTS and controls (F2,67 = 27.53, p < 0.001). In the control group, grey matter volume in bifrontal lobes showed a negative correlation with age (r=-0.54, p < 0.05), whereas no correlation was found in either CAE or BECTS. With ROI analyses, the grey matter volume of posterior thalami was increased in CAE compared to other 2 groups (p < 0.05).
Significance:
This study shows that there are grey matter volume differences between CAE and BECTS. Our findings of grey matter volume differences may suggest that there may be localized, specific differences in brain structure between these two types of epilepsy.
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