High-resolution Multi-parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Focal Epilepsy

March 30, 2026 updated by: Leung Ho Sang, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Patients with focal epilepsy often have diagnostic difficulties as their culprit for seizures are difficult to be picked up using conventional imaging. The current study is to investigate the utility of advanced MRI sequences on detection of subtle lesions accountable for focal epilepsy.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Focal epilepsy refers to having seizures arising from a specific part of the brain. In these patients, workup in magnetic resonance imaging is often necessary as patients with structural lesions have a much higher rate of seizures, ranging from 10% to 26% at 1 year and from 29% to 48% at 5 years. However, there is also a subgroup of patients who has epilepsy not adequately controlled by anti-epileptics with unrevealing first MRI study, a dedicated MRI protocol may reveal positive lesion in 30-65% of the cases. In these patients, several tricks can be applied to increase the detection rate. First, the used of a high-resolution MRI on a high-field scanner could be helpful, which can be increased the sensitivity up to 90%. The use of 7T-MRI in further picking up subtle lesions in patients presenting with epilepsy has been investigated, further affirming the role of high resolution MRI imaging. Secondly, the use of dedicated sequences, such as T1-weighted inversion recovery sequences which allow better distinction of grey and white matter, could also reveal subtle lesions such as polymicrogyria or Type 1 focal cortical dysplasia.

This study is therefore aimed to apply the findings to the local settings, and specifically to investigate if T1-weighted inversion recovery sequences provides additional benefit in picking up more subtle lesions in patients who had an initial first negative MRI.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

66

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • Recruiting
        • Gerald Choa MRI Center
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Consecutive patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy fulfilling the following criteria -

    1. Diagnosis of focal epilepsy with a probable site identified, as defined by concordant results from any TWO of the following:

  • Clinical seminology compatible with focal epilepsy.
  • Electroencephalography pointing towards a specific site for focal epilepsy.
  • Positive ictal brain scintigraphy with SPECT-CT correlation. AND 2. Previous MRI (at least one study with protocol tailored for epilepsy) which did not reveal accountable focal lesion.

AND 3. Able to consent for MRI examination (if patient under age of 18, consent for MRI will be obtained from guardian). Patients will be provided information leaflets to read on, and written consent before taking part in this study and MRI examination.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are contraindicated to magnetic resonance imaging (such as due to underlying MRI incompatible metallic implants)
  • Patients who cannot cooperate for MRI scanning.
  • Patients show are unable to provide informed consent.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Study subjects
Study subjects will be recruited for scanning in a 3T MRI scanner with dedicated high-resolution MRI sequences as stated in our research protocol.
Diagnostic test: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Subjects will undergo MRI scanning in our 3T machine with dedicated high resolution sequences (including 2D T1-weighted inversion recovery sequences, 3D FLAIR MRI whole brain, 3D T1-weighted Sagittal MPRAGE; plus other sequences for the clinical purpose of pre-operative planning as per consensus with referring doctor)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Accuracy of high resolution MRI in diagnosis
Time Frame: At the time of MRI scanning, typically 1 day
the sensitivity and specificity of the baseline MRI (bMRI) and the high-resolution MRI (hrMRI) studies, based on the standard of surgical findings on patients who underwent either intracranial EEG or surgical resection
At the time of MRI scanning, typically 1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Hanson Leung, MBBS (HK), Chinese University of Hong Kong

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 5, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 8, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

August 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 30, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CREC 2024.133

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

The image data and outcome measures of the participants can be provided in an anonymized manner upon reasonable request by email to the principal investigator.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Epilepsies, Partial

Clinical Trials on Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Senegal

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe