Epilepsy imaging in adults: Getting it right

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to describe an MRI protocol optimized for epilepsy evaluation, common causes of epilepsy visualized on MR images of patients evaluated for medically intractable partial epilepsy, and the basic concepts of advanced imaging techniques in the evaluation of epilepsy. CONCLUSION. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurologic disorders in the United States. The long-term seizure-free success of epilepsy surgery is related to the ability to define and completely resect the epileptogenic zone. Detection of structural lesions at preoperative imaging requires not only a dedicated epilepsy protocol but also meticulous examination of the images by the interpreting radiologist with particular attention to subtle abnormalities that might otherwise go unreported.