Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0014547 (focal epilepsy)
 1,627 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We compared amino acid contents of 54 epileptogenic foci removed neurosurgically from temporal or frontal cortex of 35 patients with focal epilepsy with those of biopsies from the same cortical regions of 14 nonepileptic patients. Neither taurine nor GABA content was reduced in epileptogenic foci. Glycine content was elevated markedly in some foci, whereas aspartic acid content was normal. Mean glutamic acid content was significantly higher in epileptogenic foci than in control cortex, and six foci contained amounts of glutamate more than 2 SD above the control mean. Our findings do not support hypotheses that deficiencies of taurine or GABA are involved in the pathogenesis of focal epilepsy but do suggest a possible etiologic role for the excitatory neurotransmitter, glutamic acid.
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PMID:Amino acid abnormalities in epileptogenic foci. 678 61

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional magnetic resonance images are new non-invasive techniques which have the potential for localization of the epileptogenic focus in patients with refractory focal epilepsy, who are candidates for surgery. Determination of patterns of asymmetry of the N-acetyl-aspartic acid (NAA) between homologous regions of the temporal lobes, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy contributes to preoperative lateralization in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. This technique may become a method for localization if its usefulness in the differentiation of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy from neocortical epilepsy is validated. Functional magnetic resonance images triggered by epileptiform discharges on the EEG, when combined with methods for localizing the source, permit the site of the epileptogenic focus to be found. This would particularly benefit patients with non-lesional extra-temporal epilepsy who are potential candidates for invasive recordings. The use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional magnetic resonance images in the preoperative evaluation of patients with refractory focal epilepsy, especially if it is used together with the relevant clinical data and that from other structural and functional imaging techniques, will reduce invasive monitoring and increase the accessibility to surgical treatment for this condition.
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PMID:[Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional magnetic resonance images: non-invasive alternatives for identifying epileptogenic foci]. 1131 Feb 76