Abstract
Abstract 1 D. Gadian ( 1 UCL Institute of Child Health, UK ) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) techniques have found widespread application in the investigation of patients with epilepsy. Applications in animal models of epilepsy are perhaps less well established, but they provide important opportunities for probing pathophysiological changes that may be difficult to characterise in humans. A key feature of animal studies is that they enable us to carry out longitudinal examinations, from prior to the onset of seizures onwards. Comparisons of data obtained before, during and after seizures can greatly facilitate the detection of brain abnormalities that may be functionally important and yet cause only subtle changes in magnetic resonance characteristics. Moreover, the longitudinal magnetic resonance data can be correlated with end-point histopathology. This presentation will report on our ongoing clinical and experimental magnetic resonance studies of status epilepticus. Convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) is the most common medical neurological emergency in childhood, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although many patients will have no obvious sequelae, possible outcomes from childhood CSE include epilepsy as well as permanent neurological or cognitive deficits. However, much remains to be learned about the pathophysiology associated with CSE and about the relationship between CSE and subsequent epilepsy. Modern magnetic resonance methods, applied both in patients and in experimental models, provide an opportunity to understand in more detail the temporal evolution of brain abnormalities associated with CSE. This may in due course lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches.
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