NMR imaging in temporal lobe epilepsy due to gliomas

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been shown to have greater sensitivity than X-ray CT in a broad range of intracranial pathologic processes. In regions in which CT is likely to suffer degradation of image quality due to a variety of bone artifacts, the advantages of MR are even more striking. Previous reports have emphasized the relative advantages of MR in studies of the posterior fossa. The present report documents the potential for similar advantages of MR in demonstration of middle fossa anatomy and in identification and characterization of temporal lobe lesions. In three patients with anterior temporal lobe gliomas and temporal lobe epilepsy, MR (even with the use of an early prototype, resistive system of 0.15 T) was clearly superior to contrast-enhanced CT in demonstrating the pathology. This considerably assisted preoperative evaluation.