The Evaluation of Brain Volume in Children with Epilepsy on Magnetic Resonance Imaging by Stereological Method

Objectives: Brain volume is important in many diseases for both children and adults. Studies examining brain volume in terms of seizure types are less although several studies examining brain volume on healthy and epileptic children are available. Thus, this study aims to examine the cerebral cortex, cerebral white matter, cerebral, cerebellar, and total brain volumes in terms of epilepsy-related factors in children diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. Methods: Cranial magnetic resonance images of 100 children (girls, 50; boys, 50), aged 3-16 years old, who had idiopathic epilepsy with generalized and partial seizures were retrospectively evaluated. The volumetric measurements of the cerebral cortex, cerebral white matter, cerebrum, cerebellum, and total brain were performed using the Cavalieri principle, which is one of the methods for volume calculation with stereology techniques. Results: No significant difference was noted in the brain volumes between partial and generalized seizure groups. However, asymmetry on cerebral cortex volume in both seizure groups was determined. Similarly, no correlation was found between epilepsy duration, seizure frequency, use of antiepileptic drugs, and brain volumes. Conclusion: Studies comparing two different seizure types are relatively less among the studies examining brain volume in childhood epilepsy. Thus, the study of brain volume in children with partial and generalized seizures diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy will contribute to the studies conducted in this area, and the results obtained are essential for understanding the impact of epilepsy and epilepsy-related factors on brain volume.