J Korean Neurol Assoc > Volume 21(1); 2003 > Article

Journal of the Korean Neurological Association 2003;21(1): 62-69.

"청소년기 근간대성간질 환자 뇌의 회색질 및 백색질 분포:복셀 기준의 형태 계측술"

태우석 , 주은연 홍승봉

성균관대학교 의과대학 삼성서울병원 신경영상연구실*,신경과

"Distribution of Cerebral Gray and White Matters in Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy: Voxel Based Morphometry"

Woo Suk Tae

"Neuroimaging Laboratory* of Neurology, Department of Neurology ,Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea"

Abstract

"Background : The brain MRI findings of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) usually appears normal upon visual inspection. The purpose of this study is to analyze the distributions of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) fea-tures with voxel based morphometry (VBM). Methods : Nineteen JME patients and 19 age and sex matched normal subjects underwent a volumetric MRI study. The MRIs were spatially normalized to our T1 template and segmented into GM, WM and CSF. The spatially normalized and segmented images were smoothed. The smoothed images of GM and WM were analyzed with t-tests. Statistical nonparametric mapping (SnPM) was also used without the assumption of normality. R e s u l t s : At the level of uncorrected p<0.05, there were brain regions with significantly decreased or increased GM and WM distributions in JME patients compared to those of the normal controls. GM decreased in the left dorsolateral-prefrontal lobe (p=0.005), both medial prefrontal lobes (p=0.01), both medial orbito-frontal lobes (p=0.005), and left middle inferior temporal gyrus (p=0.005) while GM increased in both putamina (right: p=0.005, left: p=0.01), right caudate nucleus (p=0.005), right antero-superior temporal gyrus (p=0.005), both medial parietal lobes (p=0.005), and both medial occipital lobes (p=0.005). WM decreased in the right internal capsule (p=0.005), left inter -nal capsule (p=0.05), and left temporal stem (p=0.05) whereas WM increased in the right temporal stem (p=0.05) and both occipital areas (p=0.001). Conclusions : JME patients appear to have abnormal distributions of GM and WM in their brains. However, it is not determined whether this finding is an ontogenical abnormality or seizure related problem.Key Words : Juvenile myclonic epilepsy, MRI, Gray matter, White matter, Voxel based morphometry"