The effectiveness of MRI in the management of pediatric epilepsy at a tertiary care hospital in Taif, Saudi Arabia

Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common disorders, affecting over 50 million individuals globally, with an incidence rate of 8.8 per 10,000 in Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to look into structural abnormalities in children with epilepsy using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. Performed between July 2021 and March 2023, 107 patients (under the age of 12) who presented with epilepsy at Children's Hospital in Taif were randomly sampled. Results: The patients' mean age was 2 years and 4 months. Males (69.2%) were impacted more frequently than females (30.8%). The majority of the patients' MRI results (75.7%) were negative, whereas 24.3% had positive results with identifiable abnormalities. Approximately 65.4% exhibited aberrant electroencephalogram findings, while 34.6% had normal findings. The majority of seizures were generalized (65.4%), with focal seizures accounting for 9.3%. The most common cause of epilepsy revealed with MRI was white matter disease (6.5%), followed by mesial temporal sclerosis (2.8%), hippocampal pathology (1.9%), and hydrocephalus (1.9%). Tuberous sclerosis, grey matter heterotopia, Sturge-Weber Syndrome, and schizencephaly were the infrequent neuroimaging findings (0.9%) in this investigation. Conclusion: MRI is critical for accurately identifying and controlling epilepsy in pediatric patients, since it provides precise classifications that assist in treatment planning and prognosis.