Cranial Computed Tomography on Epilepsy: A Correlation Study With Electroencephalographical Findings

Among the 400 cases examined, about 69% showed positive findings on the cranial computed tomography (CCT), which were mostly atrophic changes. The structural changes of the brain were least in primary generalized epilepsy (20%), while secondary generalized epilepsy and partial epilepsy showed positive findings equally in about 70% of the cases.

In 16.5% of the partial epilepsy cases, diffuse lesions were found on the CCT. In 9.5%, of thc patients with partial epilepsy, an abnormality of interhemispheric disagreement between EEG and CCT was disclosed. Among patients with secondary generalized epilepsy, about one-third of them demonstrated very distinct CCT focal findings in spite of the generalized nature of the epileptic discharges. Moreover it was suggested that secondary generalized epilepsy, other than the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, might lie between partial epilepsy and the Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Some clinical implications were discussed.

Finally, CCT seems to be a powerful tool to intensify assessment in the diagnosis of epilepsy, providing us with a pactical clue for more reasonable classificat:ons of epilepsies.