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Abstract #3528

Gray and white matter abnormalities in patients with nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy

Laura Ludovica Gramegna 1 , David Neil Manners 1 , Claudia Testa 1 , Claudio Bianchini 1 , Ilaria Naldi 2 , Lorenzo Ferri 2 , Francesca Bisulli 2,3 , Paolo Tinuper 2,3 , Raffaele Lodi 1 , and Caterina Tonon 1

1 Functional MR Unit, Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, 2 Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, 3 IRCCS Institute of Neurological Science of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (NFLE) includes paroxysmal episodes appearing almost exclusively during sleep. The pathophysiology of NFLE is not yet fully understood and distinguishing NFLE seizures from paroxysmal non-epileptic sleep disorders is difficult. We used VBM and TBSS to evaluate brain tissue density and white matter microstructure in 20 NFLE patients. Compared to healthy controls NFLE patients showed widespread white matter microstructural alterations. Right frontal-orbital gray matter density was reduced in more severely affected patients. Our findings may help to better understand the pathophysiology of NFLE and to differentiate NFLE from other non-epileptic motor phenomena arising from sleep.

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