Neurovascular networks in epilepsy: Correlating ictal blood perfusion with intracranial electrophysiology
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Perfusion patterns observed in Subtraction Ictal SPECT Co-registered to MRI (SISCOM) assist in focus localization and surgical planning for patients with medically intractable focal epilepsy. While the localizing value of SISCOM has been widely investigated, its relationship to the underlying electrophysiology has not been extensively studied and is therefore not well understood. In the present study, we set to investigate this relationship in a cohort of 70 consecutive patients who underwent ictal and interictal SPECT studies and subsequent stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) monitoring for localization of the epileptogenic focus and surgical intervention. Seizures recorded during SEEG evaluation (SEEG seizures) were matched to semiologically-similar seizures during the preoperative ictal SPECT evaluation (SPECT seizures) by comparing the semiological changes in the course of each seizure. The spectral changes of the ictal SEEG with respect to interictal ones over 7 traditional frequency bands (0.1 to 150Hz) were analyzed at each SEEG site. Neurovascular (SEEG/SPECT) relations were assessed by comparing the estimated spectral power density changes of the SEEG at each site with the perfusion changes (SISCOM z-scores) estimated from the acquired SISCOM map at that site. Across patients, a significant correlation (p<0.05) was observed between spectral changes during the SEEG seizure and SISCOM perfusion z-scores. Brain sites with high perfusion z-score exhibited higher increased SEEG power in theta to ripple frequency bands with concurrent suppression in delta and theta frequency bands compared to regions with lower perfusion z-score. The dynamics of the correlation of SISCOM perfusion and SEEG spectral power from ictal onset to seizure end and immediate postictal period were also derived. Forty-six (46) of the 70 patients underwent resective epilepsy surgery. SISCOM z-score and power increase in beta to ripple frequency bands were significantly higher in resected than non-resected sites in the patients who were seizure-free following surgery. This study provides for the first time concrete evidence that both hyper-perfusion and hypo-perfusion patterns observed in SISCOM maps have strong electrophysiological underpinnings, and that integration of the information from SISCOM and SEEG can shed light on the location and dynamics of the underlying epileptic brain networks, and thus advance our anatomo-electro-clinical understanding and approaches to targeted diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
Keywords
Epilepsy, Neurovascular Coupling, surgical outcome, SISCOM, Seizures, Stereo-encephalography
Medical Subject Headings
Adolescent; Adult; Brain (metabolism, physiopathology, surgery); Cerebrovascular Circulation (physiology); Child; Drug Resistant Epilepsy (metabolism, physiopathology, surgery); Electrocorticography (methods); Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nerve Net (metabolism, physiopathology, surgery); Neurovascular Coupling (physiology); Retrospective Studies; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared (methods); Stereotaxic Techniques; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon (methods); Young Adult
Publication Date
5-1-2021
Publication Title
NeuroImage
E-ISSN
1095-9572
Volume
231
First Page
117838
PubMed ID
33577938
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117838
Recommended Citation
Krishnan, Balu; Tousseyn, Simon; Nayak, Chetan Sateesh; Aung, Thandar; Kheder, Ammar; Wang, Z Irene; Wu, Guiyun; Gonzalez-Martinez, Jorge; Nair, Dileep; Burgess, Richard; Iasemidis, Leonidas; Najm, Imad; Bulacio, Juan; and Alexopoulos, Andreas V., "Neurovascular networks in epilepsy: Correlating ictal blood perfusion with intracranial electrophysiology" (2021). Translational Neuroscience. 1159.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurobiology/1159