Using MRI tissue parameter maps to detect and delineate FCD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using new quantitative MRI tissue parameter maps to detect and delineate focal cortical dysplasia (FCD)
IRAS ID
148540
Contact name
David Carmichael
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
For selected children with epilepsy who don’t respond to treatment with medication, surgery can be an effective treatment. Surgery is more likely to stop seizures if an abnormal brain region (called an epileptic lesion) is seen on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain scans. Doctors often want a positive brain scan before attempting surgery. Currently, a range of different MRI scans are used to show brain structure, but 1/4 of patients with epilepsy from a single brain area has a negative (or ‘normal appearing’) scan. Epileptic seizures are caused by uncontrolled firing of brain-cells; this is related to brain tissue properties in a complicated way, which may be hard to detect in standard scans. Hence we will use new MRI techniques that can map brain-tissue properties and investigate whether these new maps will improve the detection of epileptic lesions. We will study children considered for epilepsy surgery with a common abnormality called focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) – that leads to epilepsy – and often needs surgery. Information localising the epilepsy is often worse in children while other (invasive) tests are often impossible. In the short-term these results can be applied to our patients, in the medium term patients at other centres can benefit.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1767
Date of REC Opinion
19 Nov 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion