Magnetic resonance imaging fingerprints of status epilepticus: A case-control study

Pilar Bosque Varela (First author), Payam Tabaee Damavandi, Lukas Machegger (Co-author), Tanja Prüwasser, Georg Zimmermann (Co-author), Andreas Oellerer (Co-author), Jürgen Steinbacher (Co-author), Mark McCoy (Co-author), Johannes Pfaff (Co-author), Eugen Trinka (Co-author), Giorgi Kuchukhidze* (Last author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalOriginal Articlepeer-review

2 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Status epilepticus (SE) is frequently associated with peri-ictal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities (PMA). However, the anatomical distribution of these alterations has not been systematically studied. The aim of this study was to assess the localization patterns of PMA in patients with SE.

METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, we compared the distribution and combinations of diffusion-restricted PMA to diffusion-restricted lesions caused by other neurological conditions. All patients of the SE group and the control group underwent MRI including a diffusion-weighted imaging sequence. Patients with SE were imaged within 48 h after its onset.

RESULTS: We enrolled 201 patients (51 with SE and 150 controls). The most frequent locations of PMA in SE were cortex (25/51, 49%), followed by hippocampus (20/51, 39%) and pulvinar of thalamus (10/51, 20%). In the control group, the cortex was involved in 80 of 150 (53%), white matter in 53 of 150 (35%), and basal ganglia in 33 of 150 (22%). In the control group, the pulvinar of thalamus was never affected and hippocampal structures were rarely involved (7/150, 5%). Involvement of the pulvinar of thalamus and the hippocampus had high specificity for SE at 100% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 98-100) and 95% (95% CI = 91-98), respectively. The sensitivity, however, was low for both locations (pulvinar of thalamus: 20%, 95% CI = 10-33; hippocampus: 39%, 95% CI = 26-54).

SIGNIFICANCE: Diffusion-restricted MRI lesions observed in the pulvinar of thalamus and hippocampus are strongly associated with SE. These changes may help physicians in diagnosing SE-related changes on MRI in an acute setting, especially in cases of equivocal clinical and electroencephalographic manifestations of SE.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1620-1630
Number of pages11
JournalEPILEPSIA
Volume65
Issue number6
Early online dateMar 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2024

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