Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: Revisiting the relation of hippocampal volumetry with memory deficits

Neuropsychological tests can infer the lateralization of the epileptogenic focus, associating verbal memory to mesial structures in the left temporal lobe and visual or nonverbal memory to the right side. High-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with high-resolution protocols allows acquisitions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epilepsy & behavior 2019-11, Vol.100 (Pt A), p.106516-106516, Article 106516
Main Authors: Ono, Sergio Eiji, de Carvalho Neto, Arnolfo, Joaquim, Maria Joana Mäder, dos Santos, Gustavo Rengel, de Paola, Luciano, Silvado, Carlos Eduardo Soares
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Epilepsy
FreeSurfer
Hippocampus
Memory
Neuropsychological
Volumetry
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Summary:Neuropsychological tests can infer the lateralization of the epileptogenic focus, associating verbal memory to mesial structures in the left temporal lobe and visual or nonverbal memory to the right side. High-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with high-resolution protocols allows acquisitions suitable for advanced postprocessing with precise volumetry of brain structures, and functional MRI demonstrates evidence that epilepsy should be seen as a network pathology, involving several structures in the brain. Since the literature showing associations between the volumetry of brain structures in left and right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and verbal and visual memory performance on neuropsychological tests is conflicting, we revisited these relationships, considering the hippocampal volumetry of patients with unilateral MTLE. Automatized hippocampal volumes were obtained using FreeSurfer software from MRI exams of 35 patients with unilateral MTLE and hippocampal atrophy and homolateral ictal onset zone defined by video electroencephalography concordant to the side of hippocampal volume reduction (15 on the left side). Verbal memory was assessed using the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and visual memory tests employed the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT). The statistical analysis explored relationships between hippocampal volumetry, lateralization, and performance on memory tests. In general, we observed deficits in both verbal and visual memory for patients with left and right hippocampal volume reduction. Patients with left hippocampal volume reduction had poorer performance on verbal memory tests compared with those with right hippocampal atrophy (t = −3.813, p 
ISSN:1525-5050
1525-5069
DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.106516