doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A1637
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American Journal of Neuroradiology 30:1811-1816, November-December 2009
© 2009 American Society of Neuroradiology
REVIEW ARTICLES
[18F] Fluorodeoxyglucose–Positron-Emission Tomography and MR Imaging Coregistration for Presurgical Evaluation of Medically Refractory Epilepsy
aFrom the Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
Please address correspondence to Noriko Salamon, MD, Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Room BL-428/CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1721; e-mail: nsalamon{at}mednet.ucla.edu
SUMMARY: Epilepsy is a chronic disorder affecting approximately 1% of the population of the world. Approximately one third of patients with epilepsy remain refractory to medical therapy. For these patients, surgery is a curative option. In order for surgery to be considered, precise localization of the structural abnormality is needed. When MR imaging findings are normal, more sensitive techniques such as positron-emission tomography (PET) can help find the abnormality. Combining MR imaging and PET information increases the sensitivity of the presurgical evaluation. In this review, we discuss the clinical applications of coregistration of [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET with MR imaging for medically refractory epilepsy. Because FDG-PET/MR imaging coregistration has been a routine component of the presurgical evaluation for patients with epilepsy at our institution since 2004, we also included cases from our data base that exemplify the utility of this technology to obtain better postsurgical outcomes.