Volume Changes of Frontal Lobe and Hippocampus in Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Tae, Woo Suk; Lee, Eun Kyung; Joo, Eun Yeon; Seo, Dae Won; Hong, Seung Bong

Abstract

BACKGROUND
In order to investigate the structural abnormalities in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), the volumes of the hippocampus and frontal lobe were measured. METHODS: Nineteen JME patients and 19 age- and sex-matched normal controls underwent a 1.6 mm thick brain SPGR MRI. The volumes of the frontal lobe and hippocampus were measured with a volume of interest method. The differences of volumes between JME and normal groups were compared. The volumes were also compared between the early and late onset groups, and between the short and long seizure duration groups. The correlations between the volumes of the frontal lobe, hippocampus, or mid-sagittal area of the corpus callosum, and the age of seizure onset or the duration of disease were tested. RESULTS: The cerebral volume was not found to be different between the JME and normal groups (p=0.521). The left hippocampus was significantly smaller in the JME group (p=0.032) while the left frontal lobe was significantly larger in the JME group (p=0.004). The area of the rostral body of corpus callosum showed a significant positive correlation with the age of onset (r=0.561, p=0.012). The right frontal lobe volume showed a significant negative correlation with the duration of disease (r=-0.511, p=0.025). CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that JME has volume changes in the frontal lobe and hippocampus. The volume reduction of the right frontal lobe in patients with a longer disease duration may suggest a progressive nature of JME. The smaller rostral body of the corpus callosum in patients with earlier seizure onset may suggest an ontogenic abnormality of JME.