MFT in complex partial epilepsy: spatio-temporal estimates of interictal activity

Magnetic field tomography (MFT) displays three dimensional estimates of the distribution of the primary current density vector, Jp, as extracted from non-invasive, non-contact, magnetoencephalographic (MEG) measurements. MFT was used to study the spatiotemporal evolution of the interictal activity during single spike events of a patient with complex partial epilepsy. The sequences of events of the interictal spikes were analysed in sagittal sections, particularly at the depth of the temporal lobe. It appeared that the left-sided interictal spikes were usually initiated at the cortical level of the left temporal lobe, the activity then propagating to the left amygdaloid and hippocampal formation. However, some focal deep activity in this region was obviously initiated in the contralateral hemisphere.