Electroencephalography-functional magnetic resonance imaging for clinical evaluation in focal epilepsy

We aimed to evaluate the contribution of simultaneous recording of electroencephalography-functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG-fMRI) in the diagnosis of epilepsy syndrome, localization of the epileptogenic zone (EZ), and decision-making regarding surgical treatment.

We performed a retrospective study to evaluate patients with focal epilepsy who underwent EEG-fMRI. Two evaluators assessed epilepsy syndrome, presumed focus, and surgical candidacy and defined confidence levels. They assessed these clinical characteristics first without EEG-fMRI and then including EEG-fMRI to assess how the results of EEG-fMRI changed the evaluations. We also determined how the clinical evaluation was affected by the concordance level between the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response and the presumed focus location, and by the confidence level of the BOLD response itself based on the t-value of the primary and secondary clusters.

Fifty-one scans from 48 patients were included. The BOLD map affected 66.7% of the evaluations by altering evaluation items (epilepsy syndrome, presumed focus, or surgical candidacy) or their confidence levels. EEG-fMRI results increased the confidence levels of epilepsy syndrome, presumed focus, or surgical candidacy in 47.1% of patients but reduced clinical confidence in these features in 11.8%. More specifically, the confidence levels increased for epilepsy syndrome in 28.5%, identification of presumed focus in 33.9%, and determination of surgical candidacy in 29.4%. The BOLD signal confidence level, whether high or low, did not influence these clinical factors.

Previous studies have emphasized the utility of EEG-fMRI for the localization of the epileptogenic zone. This study demonstrated the potential of EEG-fMRI to influence clinical confidence when determining epilepsy syndrome, the presumed epileptic focus, and surgical candidacy.