Focal Cortical Dysplasia

Focal cortical dysplasias (FCDs) comprise a spectrum of focal developmental malformations characterized by disruption of the normal cytoarchitecture of the cerebral cortex. They are highly associated with medically intractable epilepsy.1–3 Focal cortical dysplasia and epilepsy were first associated in a report by Taylor4 (although previously alluded to by Crome5), who reported 10 patients (adults and children) with refractory epilepsy undergoing surgical resection, who showed focal abnormalities of cortical cytoarchitecture that matched the proposed anatomical focus associated with their seizure semiology. They hypothesized that the focal patho-logical changes were probably developmental and that they accounted for their seizures. The description of other focal malformations of cortical development (MCD) subtypes shar-ing pathological changes with FCD—such as hemimegalence