FDG-PET/MRI coregistration improves detection of cortical dysplasia in patients with epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with cortical dysplasia (CD) are difficult to treat because the MRI abnormality may be undetectable. This study determined whether fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/MRI coregistration enhanced the recognition of CD in epilepsy surgery patients.

METHODS: Patients from 2004-2007 in whom FDG-PET/MRI coregistration was a component of the presurgical evaluation were compared with patients from 2000-2003 without this technique. For the 2004-2007 cohort, neuroimaging and clinical variables were compared between patients with mild Palmini type I and severe Palmini type II CD.

RESULTS: Compared with the 2000-2003 cohort, from 2004-2007 more CD patients were detected, most had type I CD, and fewer cases required intracranial electrodes. From 2004-2007, 85% of type I CD cases had normal non-University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) MRI scans. UCLA MRI identified CD in 78% of patients, and 37% of type I CD cases had normal UCLA scans. EEG and neuroimaging findings were concordant in 52% of type I CD patients, compared with 89% of type II CD patients. FDG-PET scans were positive in 71% of CD cases, and type I CD patients had less hypometabolism compared with type II CD patients. Postoperative seizure freedom occurred in 82% of patients, without differences between type I and type II CD cases.

CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/MRI coregistration into the multimodality presurgical evaluation enhanced the noninvasive identification and successful surgical treatment of patients with cortical dysplasia (CD), especially for the 33% of patients with nonconcordant findings and those with normal MRI scans from mild type I CD.