Focal Cooling Suppresses Spontaneous Epileptiform Activity without Changing the Cortical Motor Threshold

Purpose: Focal cerebral cooling has been shown to reduce epileptiform activity in animals. There are, however, few reports of this phenomenon in humans. Methods: Electrocorticography was performed before resection of a right frontal tumor in a patient with partial seizures. Cold saline was applied t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epilepsia (Copenhagen) 2002-08, Vol.43 (8), p.932-935
Main Authors: Karkar, Kameel M., Garcia, Paul A., Bateman, Lisa M., Smyth, Matthew D., Barbaro, Nicholas M., Berger, Mitchel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Astrocytoma - complications
Astrocytoma - surgery
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Neoplasms - complications
Brain Neoplasms - surgery
Cerebral cooling
Cold Temperature
Differential Threshold
Electric Stimulation
Electroencephalography
Electromyography
Epilepsies, Partial - etiology
Epilepsies, Partial - physiopathology
Epilepsies, Partial - surgery
Epileptiform
Humans
Hypothermia, Induced - methods
Male
Medical sciences
Motor Cortex - physiopathology
Motor threshold
Movement - physiology
Neurosurgery
Skull, brain, vascular surgery
Sodium Chloride
Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases
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Summary:Purpose: Focal cerebral cooling has been shown to reduce epileptiform activity in animals. There are, however, few reports of this phenomenon in humans. Methods: Electrocorticography was performed before resection of a right frontal tumor in a patient with partial seizures. Cold saline was applied to the interictal spike focus, and its effect on the epileptiform discharges was observed. Results: Application of cold saline to the spike focus resulted in a transient, complete cessation of spiking. This effect was reproduced with a second application of cold saline. The motor threshold for electrical stimulation remained unchanged during the application of saline. Conclusions: In this patient with tumor‐related epilepsy, focal cooling of the cortex reproducibly abolished interictal epileptiform discharges without changing the motor threshold to electrical stimulation.
ISSN:0013-9580
1528-1167
DOI:10.1046/j.1528-1157.2002.03902.x