PET and SPECT in epilepsy: a critical review
- PMID: 19236949
- DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.02.025
PET and SPECT in epilepsy: a critical review
Abstract
Molecular imaging with ictal and interictal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) as well as positron emission tomography (PET) rank among the established functional imaging tests for the presurgical evaluation of epileptic onset zone in patients with intractable partial epilepsy. In temporal lobe epilepsy the sensitivity of these methods was shown to be excellent, in particular if a multimodal platform is used, which combines the functional imaging with the additional morphological information of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but was lower in extra temporal lobe epilepsy. Functional imaging with SPECT and PET reflects seizure related changes of cerebral perfusion, glucose-metabolism and neuroreceptor status. In this review the usefulness of SPECT and PET imaging in clinical routine in epilepsy as well as the role of different neuroreceptor PET-tracer, which were used in epilepsy are discussed. The use of perfusion SPECT tracer allows the investigation of ictal activations, but the low temporal resolution of ictal perfusion SPECT often results in the detection of both the ictal onset zone as well as the propagation pathways, an area that has not always need to be resected in order to render a patient seizure free. The additional use of interictal PET with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose which measures regional cerebral metabolism or interictal perfusion SPECT enhance the informational value of ictal SPECT and were shown to be important tools to better define the ictal onset and surround inhibition zones. In recent years PET imaging of different cerebral neuroreceptor-systems inter alia GABA(A) receptors, serotonin receptors (5-HT(1A)), opioid receptors as well as dopamine receptors was used to investigate the neurochemical basis of epilepsy, the role of these neurotransmitters for the epileptogenesis as well as the spread of epileptic activity during seizures and partially entered in clinical routine. Currently some of these radioligands are also used to investigate new treatment approaches.
Similar articles
-
Interictal PET and ictal subtraction SPECT: sensitivity in the detection of seizure foci in patients with medically intractable epilepsy.Epilepsia. 2013 Feb;54(2):341-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03686.x. Epub 2012 Oct 2. Epilepsia. 2013. PMID: 23030361
-
Neuronuclear assessment of patients with epilepsy.Semin Nucl Med. 2008 Jul;38(4):227-39. doi: 10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2008.02.004. Semin Nucl Med. 2008. PMID: 18514079 Review.
-
The use of SPECT and PET in routine clinical practice in epilepsy.Curr Opin Neurol. 2007 Apr;20(2):194-202. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0b013e328042baf6. Curr Opin Neurol. 2007. PMID: 17351491 Review.
-
Correlations of interictal FDG-PET metabolism and ictal SPECT perfusion changes in human temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.Neuroimage. 2006 Aug 15;32(2):684-95. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.04.185. Epub 2006 Jun 9. Neuroimage. 2006. PMID: 16762567
-
[Functional imaging (PET and SPECT) in epilepsy].Orv Hetil. 2001 Nov 4;142(44):2405-14. Orv Hetil. 2001. PMID: 11766233 Review. Hungarian.
Cited by
-
Application value of molecular imaging technology in epilepsy.Ibrain. 2021 Sep 28;7(3):200-210. doi: 10.1002/j.2769-2795.2021.tb00084.x. eCollection 2021 Sep. Ibrain. 2021. PMID: 37786793 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography in Neurology.Basic Clin Neurosci. 2022 Sep-Oct;13(5):595-608. doi: 10.32598/bcn.2021.3087.1. Epub 2022 Sep 1. Basic Clin Neurosci. 2022. PMID: 37313030 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Imaging blood-brain barrier dysfunction: A state-of-the-art review from a clinical perspective.Front Aging Neurosci. 2023 Apr 17;15:1132077. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1132077. eCollection 2023. Front Aging Neurosci. 2023. PMID: 37139088 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Diagnostic implications of neuroimaging in epilepsy and other seizure disorders.Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023 Feb 7;85(2):73-75. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000000155. eCollection 2023 Feb. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023. PMID: 36845800 Free PMC article.
-
Neurological update: structural and functional imaging in epilepsy surgery.J Neurol. 2023 May;270(5):2798-2808. doi: 10.1007/s00415-023-11619-z. Epub 2023 Feb 15. J Neurol. 2023. PMID: 36792721 Free PMC article. Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical