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Updated: Jan 8, 2026
Network Analysis of Foramen Ovale Electrode Recordings in Drug-resistant Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Patients
Published on: December 18, 2016
Pre-ictal temperature increases detected by ear canal thermometry in the epilepsy monitoring unit. An exploratory
Masud Seyal1, Todd Chatlos1, George Savvides1
1Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis, USA.
Objective:
There is evidence for a pre-ictal state, distinct from the interictal state, that can be detected minutes before the onset of a clinical seizure. Analysis of scalp EEG signals do not reliably distinguish the pre-ictal EEG from the interictal EEG. Changes in cerebral blood flow and oxygenation occur several minutes before EEG evidence of a seizure. Local increases in cerebral activity are associated with increases in brain temperature. Brain temperature changes are reflected in the tympanic membrane temperature. This exploratory study investigated whether a brain temperature change could be detected noninvasively in the immediate pre-ictal period.
Methods:
Patients with focal seizures undergoing inpatient video-EEG telemetry had epitympanic temperatures recorded. Pre-ictal temperature changes deviating from the interictal temperature were studied.
Results:
Data was available for 25 seizures in 12 patients. For a given seizure, the mean temperature at seizure onset exceeded the interictal temperature by 0.31 °C. Peri-ictal peak temperature exceeded the interictal temperature by a mean of 0.37 °C. Duration of temperature rise was 1081 s.
Conclusions:
Pre-ictal temperature increases were detected non-invasively in focal onset seizures.
Significance:
This finding provides the basis for development of temperature-based technology for seizure warning in ambulatory patients with refractory epilepsy.
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