JLE

Epileptic Disorders

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Ictal EEG modifications in temporal lobe epilepsy Volume 15, numéro 4, December 2013

Auteurs
“Claudio Munari” Epilepsy Surgery Centre, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Neurology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common type of epilepsy in adults with medically intractable, localisation-related epilepsy, amenable to surgery. Together with clinical and neuroimaging data, presurgical ictal scalp-EEG findings are often sufficient to define the epileptogenic zone. It is widely believed that ictal scalp-EEG findings in temporal lobe epilepsy are represented by 5-9-Hz lateralised rhythmic theta activity or 2-5-Hz lateralised rhythmic delta activity. On the basis of experimental models and experience with intra-cerebral EEG recordings, the pattern of low-voltage fast activity is considered to be the electrophysiological hallmark of the epileptogenic zone. We reviewed the ictal scalp-EEG data relating to 111 seizures in 47 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent video-EEG recordings during presurgical work-up. We found that 35 patients (74.4%) showed flattening, low-voltage fast activity or fast activity as the initial EEG pattern. When visible, the rhythmic delta or theta activity followed the fast activity. Low-voltage fast activity, flattening or fast activity occurs in the majority of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and represents the main ictal EEG pattern. Low-voltage fast activity (or similar) is also identifiable as the initial ictal EEG pattern in scalp-EEG recordings.