Cerebral blood flow in temporal lobe epilepsy: a partial volume correction study

Purpose Previous studies in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have shown that, owing to brain atrophy, positron emission tomography (PET) can overestimate deficits in measures of cerebral function such as glucose metabolism (CMR_glu) and neuroreceptor binding. The magnitude of this effect on cerebral blood flow (CBF) is unexplored. The aim of this study was to assess CBF deficits in TLE before and after magnetic resonance imaging-based partial volume correction (PVC). Methods Absolute values of CBF for 21 TLE patients and nine controls were computed before and after PVC. In TLE patients, quantitative CMR_glu measurements also were obtained. Results Before PVC, regional values of CBF were significantly (p<0.05) lower in TLE patients than in controls in all regions, except the fusiform gyrus contralateral to the epileptic focus. After PVC, statistical significance was maintained in only four regions: ipsilateral inferior temporal cortex, bilateral insula and contralateral amygdala. There was no significant difference between patients and controls in CBF asymmetry indices (AIs) in any region before or after PVC. In TLE patients, AIs for CBF were significantly smaller than for CMR_glu in middle and inferior temporal cortex, fusiform gyrus and hippocampus both before and after PVC. A significant positive relationship between disease duration and AIs for CMR_glu, but not CBF, was detected in hippocampus and amygdala, before but not after PVC. Conclusion PVC should be used for PET CBF measurements in patients with TLE. Reduced blood flow, in contrast to glucose metabolism, is mainly due to structural changes.