A preliminary study of epilepsy in children using diffusional kurtosis imaging.

To study brain abnormalities, in terms of non-Gaussian water diffusion properties using diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) in children with electroencephalography (EEG) confirmed epilepsy lateralized to both hemispheres. A total of 15 children with epileptiform waves on EEG in both hemispheres and 18 children as normal controls (NC) matched for age and sex were recruited. Data from DKI for all children were used to characterize non-Gaussian properties. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and mean kurtosis (MK) maps were estimated from the DKI datasets. Voxel-based analyses (VBA) based on these measures were performed and compared between the epilepsy and NC groups. The VBA showed abnormal regions in both white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) in those with epilepsy. Analysis of FA values revealed that the abnormal regions were significant mainly in the left frontal and temporal lobes of the WM. Analysis of MD values revealed that differences were significant mainly in the right hemisphere of the limbic lobe, uncus, parahippocampal region, both in GM and WM of frontal and temporal lobes, and GM of the rectus of the left cerebrum. Finally, analysis of MK values revealed significant differences mainly in WM of the frontal lobes of both cerebrum, and GM and WM of the parietal lobe of the right cerebrum. These preliminary results suggest that DKI is sensitive for the characterization of diffusion abnormalities in both WM and GM of children with epilepsy.