FDG-PET, however, revealed focal abnormalities in 11 of the 16 cases that underwent scanning. “Most of them had focal areas of hypometabolism; none of those metabolic patterns fit those of known neurodegenerative disorders, and more rarely they were entirely normal,” Dr. Ramanan said during a presentation of his findings.
The results suggest that FDG-PET “may be a more useful tool than EEG” in distinguishing TEA from other disorders, he said. “I think the fascinating question going forward is whether TEA has an underlying biomarker and if there’s a neuroimaging biomarker for this. From these data, I think FDG-PET could be a very promising avenue for that,” he said.
In most of these cases where there was an abnormality detected on EEG, he noted that the patient “had multiple or prolonged EEGs, so it’s not always an easy thing to catch.”
Dr. Ramanan stressed that it’s important for clinicians “to have your antennae up for this diagnosis, particularly as these patients will come in with chronic memory trouble, because this is something we can fix.” In his study, all of the 22 individuals followed up after treatment with antiepileptic drugs, most commonly lamotrigine or levetiracetam, improved on follow-up.
Dr. Ramanan and his colleagues disclosed no conflicts of interest related to their findings.
SOURCE: Ramanan V et al. Neurology. 2018 Apr 90(15 Suppl.):P3.035.