What tests are necessary to confirm the location of the epilepsy?
Three imaging studies are usually performed as part of the presurgical evaluation. These include Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain is a technique used to visualize abnormalities in the structure of the brain. In some cases, these abnormalities are focal lesions such as tumors, strokes, results of head injury, or developmental anomalies such as focal cortical dysplasia. In other cases, volume loss (smaller size) may be noted in certain brain structures. This suggests that they may have been damaged by seizure activity. Certain areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus of the temporal lobe, are known to be highly epileptogenic (seizure-producing) in nature. Measurements of the volume of the hippocampus using three-dimensional techniques allow us to determine whether it is potentially epileptogenic. Positron emission tomography is a test used to visualize t
