Benign Childhood Epilepsy With Centro-temporal Spikes (BCECTS) Clinical Trial
Official title:
Dynamic Regional Brain Maturation in Children With Localization Related Epilepsy
This project intends to investigate children with idiopathic and cryptogenic localization
related epilepsies, using a longitudinal assessment of structural and functional MRI data, in
relation to neuropsychological evaluation. The rationale is primarily based on: 1) the
frequent observation of selective cognitive dysfunctions in such children, the
pathophysiology of which remains largely uncertain; 2) the recent major advances in the MRI
investigation of brain maturation showing striking age and region dependant patterns.
The primary hypothesis is that some children with localization related epilepsies suffer from
altered maturation in the epileptic brain regions, and that this abnormal maturation affects
their cognitive abilities. 100 children with localization related epilepsies and 100 matched
controls will be prospectively enrolled during the first two years of the disease (for
patients) and benefit from a comprehensive phenotypic and neuropsychological evaluation once
a year for 5 years. The brain maturation of these children will be longitudinally assessed
using structural and functional MRI, and correlated with neuropsychological data.
Investigators hope to demonstrate that children with localization related epilepsies and
cognitive dysfunctions suffer from an abnormal brain maturation in regions underlying the
epileptic activity and the altered cognitive processes. The finding could partly bridge the
gap between these two abnormalities and help better understand their interaction and
respective dynamic. Once validated, the study of regional brain maturation in children with
epilepsy might be further used as a reliable surrogate marker or predictor of associated
cognitive dysfunction.
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