Objective

The authors recently reported a novel subsecond analysis method of analyzing EEG–functional MRI (fMRI) to improve the detection rate of epileptic focus. This study aims to validate the utility of this method for presurgical evaluation in pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy.

Methods

Among 13 patients with focal epilepsy undergoing presurgical examinations including simultaneous EEG-fMRI at 3T, 11 patients had interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) during fMRI. The authors used the sequence of topographic maps during the IEDs as a reference to obtain subsecond fMRI activation maps with the same temporal resolution as the EEG data, and constructed “spike-and-slow-wave-activation-summary” (SSWAS) maps that showed the activation frequency of voxels during IEDs. Clusters were defined by thresholding the SSWAS maps (voxel value > 10), and those containing voxels with the top 3 highest activation frequencies were considered significant. Significant hemodynamic responses using conventional event-related (ER) analysis and SSWAS maps were compared with the resection areas and surgical outcomes at 1 year after surgery.

Results

Using ER analysis, 4 (36%) of 11 patients had significant hemodynamic responses. One of 4 patients had significant hemodynamic responses in the resection area and good surgical outcome. Using SSWAS maps, 10 (91%) of 11 patients had significant hemodynamic responses. Six of 10 patients had significant hemodynamic responses in the resection area, and 5 of the 6 patients achieved good surgical outcomes. The remaining 4 patients had significant hemodynamic responses distant from the resection area, and only 1 of the 4 patients achieved good surgical outcomes. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SSWAS maps were 83.3%, 75.0%, 83.3%, and 75.0%, respectively.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated the clinical utility of SSWAS maps for presurgical evaluation of pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy. The findings indicated that subsecond EEG-fMRI analysis may help surgeons choose the resection areas that could lead to good surgical outcomes.