Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Neuhaus, Elisabeth
• Bitzer, Felix
• Held, Nina R.
• Bauer, Tobias
• Gaubatz, Jennifer
• Wrede, Randi
• Baumgartner, Tobias
• Rácz, Atilla
• Becker, Vitali
• Surges, Rainer
• Rüber, Theodor

Titel

Volumetric gray matter findings in autonomic network regions of people with focal epilepsy

Ist Teil von

• Journal of neuroimaging, 2024-01, Vol.34 (1), p.55-60

Ort / Verlag

United States: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Wiley Blackwell Single Titles

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Background and Purpose Voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) studies of people with focal epilepsies revealed gray matter (GM) alterations in brain regions involved in cardiorespiratory regulation, which have been linked to the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). It remains unclear whether the type and localization of epileptogenic lesions influence the occurrence of such alterations. Methods To test the hypothesis that VBM alterations of autonomic network regions are independent of epileptogenic lesions and that they reveal structural underpinnings of SUDEP risk, VBM was performed in 100 people with focal epilepsies without an epileptogenic lesion identifiable on MRI (mean age ± standard deviation = 35 ± 11 years, 56 female). The group was further stratified in high (sample size n = 29) and low risk of SUDEP (n = 71). GM volumes were compared between these two subgroups and to 100 matched controls. Results People with epilepsy displayed higher GM volume in both amygdalae and parahippocampal gyri and lower GM volume in the cerebellum and occipital (p<.05, familywise error corrected). There were no significant volumetric differences between high and low SUDEP risk subgroups. Conclusion Our findings confirm that autonomic networks are structurally altered in people with focal epilepsy and they question VBM as a suitable method to show structural correlates of the SUDEP risk score.