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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2008; 18(03): 210-217
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.41829
Neuroradiology

Clinical applications of functional MRI in epilepsy

Chandrasekharan Kesavadas
Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum - 695 011, India
,
Bejoy Thomas
Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum - 695 011, India
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Abstract

The role of functional MRI (fMRI) in the presurgical evaluation of patients with intractable epilepsy is being increasingly recognized. Real-time fMRI is an easily performable diagnostic technique in the clinical setting. It has become a noninvasive alternative to intraoperative cortical stimulation and the Wada test for eloquent cortex mapping and language lateralization, respectively. Its role in predicting postsurgical memory outcome and in localizing the ictal activity is being recognized. This review article describes the biophysical basis of blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI and the methodology adopted, including the design, paradigms, the fMRI setup, and data analysis. Illustrative cases have been discussed, wherein the fMRI results influenced the seizure team′s decisions with regard to diagnosis and therapy. Finally, the special issues involved in fMRI of epilepsy patients and the various challenges of clinical fMRI are detailed.

Keywords

Epilepsy - functional MRI


Publication History

Article published online:
31 July 2021

© 2008. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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