EEG source localization of interictal epileptiform activity in patients with partial complex epilepsy: comparison between dipole modeling and brain distributed source models.

Abstract

The precision between dipole Brain Electric Source Analysis (BESA) and brain distributed Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (VARETA) models for the localization of brain sources of interictal epileptiform discharges in patients with partial complex epilepsy was compared. The localization of brain sources calculated with dipole analysis and variable resolution electromagnetic tomography in 20 interictal recordings was analyzed. The origin of the dipoles was temporal in 18 cases, frontal in 1 and occipital in another. One dipole was enough in 7 cases, whereas two dipoles were necessary in 13 cases. The localization of paroxysmal activity was the same with BESA and VARETA in 17 patients. BESA and VARETA are useful methods for EEG sources analysis; BESA has more precision for the localization of punctate epileptogenic regions, and VARETA provides more information concerning the extension of the epileptic zone.