Quantitative Analysis of Simultaneous EEG Features during PET Studies for Childhood Partial Epilepsy

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the significance of simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recording during 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F] fluoro-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in childhood partial epilepsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included 46 children with partial epilepsy who underwent simultaneous EEG during PET. We compared the epileptogenic area of several EEG features including epileptiform discharges, focal polymorphic slow waves, and electrographic seizures, with the abnormal metabolic region on PET. We also compared the epileptogenic area of simultaneous EEG and PET with findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and video/EEG, as well as the histopathological diagnosis of the resected cortical area, in eight patients who underwent surgical resection of the epileptogenic area. RESULTS: Hypometabolic regions on interictal PET were concordant with epileptogenic areas of epileptiform discharges and focal polymorphic slow waves, according to their frequency and/or severity, with odds ratios of 1.35 and 1.81, respectively (p