Intraictal activation in the neocortex: a marker of the epileptogenic region

During the course of a seizure, subdural recordings often show secondary areas which develop independent electrographic sequences that may outlast the primary seizure sequence. We reviewed the subdural data on 8 patients with intraictal secondarily activated foci (ISF). In 6 patients, ISFs were documented to be capable of generating independent seizures; ISF seizures occurred during the initial subdural monitoring period in 3, but became ictal generators only after excision of the primary focus in the other 3. Prominent interictal abnormalities were observed at the ISFs in 5 of 8 patients. The ISF in 1 patient correlated with the structural lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. We believe that ISFs have significant epileptogenicity and should be resected when possible.