Introduction: Cerebral perfusion patterns in typical rolandic Epilepsy and its variants remain unknown.
Objective: To describe interictal cerebral perfusion patterns in this Epilepsy and in one of its variants.
Patients and methods: Twenty four children were followed-up for 6 years after their first seizure. Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Single Photon Emission Tomography were performed during follow-up. We investigated for perfusion asymmetries in different cerebral structures using statistical parametric map. The perfusion images were registered whether atypical evolution was diagnosed or if we found some cognitive deficits suggestive of focal cortical lesion.
Results: Seven patients with atypical Benign Partial Epilepsy and seventeen with typical Rolandic Epilepsy were recruited. The vast majorly of the patients showed a cortical hyperperfusion pattern associated with asymmetric hypoperfusion pattern in basal ganglia and thalamus. Patients with atypical Benign Partial Epilepsy showed a well defined different cerebral perfusion pattern characterized by symmetrical hypoperfusion at the level of basal ganglia including thalamus.
Conclusions: Different cerebral perfusion patterns were documented in different variants of Rolandic epilepsy.
