Estimation of brain network ictogenicity predicts outcome from epilepsy surgery

M Goodfellow, C Rummel, E Abela, MP Richardson, K Schindler, JR Terry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

69 Citations (Scopus)
106 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Surgery is a valuable option for pharmacologically intractable epilepsy. However, significant post-operative improvements are not always attained. This is due in part to our incomplete understanding of the seizure generating (ictogenic) capabilities of brain networks. Here we introduce an in silico, model-based framework to study the effects of surgery within ictogenic brain networks. We find that factors conventionally determining the region of tissue to resect, such as the location of focal brain lesions or the presence of epileptiform rhythms, do not necessarily predict the best resection strategy. We validate our framework by analysing electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings from patients who have undergone epilepsy surgery. We find that when post-operative outcome is good, model predictions for optimal strategies align better with the actual surgery undertaken than when post-operative outcome is poor. Crucially, this allows the prediction of optimal surgical strategies and the provision of quantitative prognoses for patients undergoing epilepsy surgery.
Original languageEnglish
Article number29215
Number of pages13
JournalScientific Reports
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jul 2016

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