MRI Volumetry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Added Value of MRI Volumetry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Over Conventional MRI in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

This works aims at evaluating the diagnostic performance of combined MRI Volumetry, Diffusion tensor imaging and Conventional MRI in lateralizing the epileptogenic focus in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and correlate these findings with clinical outcome.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE)
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: MRI

Detailed Description

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. It affects about 70 million people worldwide. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common focal epilepsy and its most frequent cause is hippocampal sclerosis. Approximately one-third of patients with TLE have seizures which fail to respond to drug therapy and they require surgical resection of the epileptic focus. Drug resistant epilepsy (DRE) is associated with neurocognitive and psychological decline, poor quality of life, increased risk of premature death and higher economic burden.

Diagnosis of TLE typically relies on clinical evaluation, MRI to visualize affected areas, such as hippocampal sclerosis and EEG to detect abnormal electrical activity in the temporal lobe's cortical regions. However, both EEG and conventional MRI have limitations. About thirty percent of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) cases are negative on MRI, so quantitative diagnosis based on clinical symptoms becomes challenging.

The development of automatic MR volumetry makes it possible to account for hippocampal volume differences that may escape visual detection. MRI volumetry enables to objectively quantify brain volume changes associated with neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Automated segmentation tools facilitate precise and reproducible analysis of structural brain changes, contributing significantly to early diagnosis, patient monitoring, and therapeutic planning. Progress in neuroimaging has led not only to successful identification of epileptic foci for surgical resection, but also to improve understanding of the microstructural changes in long-standing epilepsy. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has the ability to characterize microstructural abnormalities in epileptic foci and to demonstrate the white matter fibers and tracts participating in the epileptic network. DTI is an MRI technique, which is based upon the ability of MRI to assess the direction and magnitude of water diffusion in tissues in vivo by utilizing the principle of anisotropic diffusion of water molecules in the white matter tracts of the brain.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 78

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Reem Mohamed Saad, Assistant lecturer; Phone Number: +201014122696; Email: saadreem89@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with idiopathic temporal lobe epilepsy and healthy volunteers

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with different age groups having temporal lobe epilepsy diagnosed by EEG with no detected structural brain lesion by conventional MRI other than mesial temporal sclerosis.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindications for MRI as claustrophobia, cardiac pacemaker and non-compatible metallic devices.
• Patients with suboptimal images or techniques.
• Post-operative and post-head traumatic cases.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hippocampal mean diffusivity (MD) values measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and non-epileptic control subjects.	Bilateral hippocampal MD values will be measured in square millimeters per second (mm²/s) by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). MD value of the epileptogenic hippocampus will be compared with the contralateral side and with hippocampal MD values of age- and sex-matched control subjects.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Assiut University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Caseload survey: CCM certification ranks first. Hosp Case Manag. 2001 Jun;9(6):85-6, 93, 81-2.
• Wang Y, Spatz MK, Kannan K, Hayk H, Avivi A, Gorivodsky M, Pines M, Yayon A, Lonai P, Givol D. A mouse model for achondroplasia produced by targeting fibroblast growth factor receptor 3. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Apr 13;96(8):4455-60. doi: 10.1073/pnas.96.8.4455.
• Clark JE, Cant AJ. Lymphadenopathy. Arch Dis Child. 1996 Apr;74(4):368. doi: 10.1136/adc.74.4.368-a. No abstract available.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 29, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 3, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 29, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Epileptic Syndromes; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Epilepsy; Epilepsies, Partial; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe
• Other Study ID Numbers: MRI Volumetry, DTI in epilepsy

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No