Could Genes be the Cause of Hippocampal Sclerosis?

In the June 7th issue of the journal Neurology articles ahead of print, Dr. Tsai and a group of colleagues from Australia present in Etiology of hippocampal sclerosis: Evidence for a ... [Neurology. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI an analysis of whether there are imaging predictors of individuals with hippocampal sclerosis, one of the most common causes of temporal lobe epilepsy.

First degree relatives from 15 families with individuals who had temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis were compared to individuals who did not. The study found:

• None of the first degree relatives (32 asymptomatic relatives, meaning relatives with no evidence of seizures) had hippocampal sclerosis on visual analysis.

• However, hippocampal volume was smaller (6.4%) in asymptomatic relatives than in controls. This effect was greater in relatives of individuals who had a positive family history of epilepsy. These relatives also had more asymmetric hippocampi.

• The authors concluded small asymmetric hippocampi in healthy relatives are likely to represent a familial developmental anomaly that could predispose to the formation of temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.

• This particular finding may portend a potential marker of epilepsy for people who are susceptible to chronic seizures and may also serve as a way to discover the responsible gene or genes.