Abstracts

Rationale: Epileptic spasms in older pediatric children have increasingly been recognized as a distinct seizure type and these patients are considered for surgical resection. Hoping to elucidate the pathophysiology of intractable epileptic spasms in children, this project, a pilot study, compares the histopathology of surgical resections from patients with and without epileptic spams. Methods: The neuropathology of patients with intractable epilepsy with (11 cases) and without epileptic spasms, partial seizures (11 cases) were retrospectively evaluated. The neuropathology reviewers were blinded as to the neurophysiological findings. Multiple parameters were evaluated (chart) and then correlated (Fisher 2 x 2) with clinical grouping. Results: The series (22 cases) included 2 patients with Hyaline Protoplasmic Astrocytopathy(HPA). See: Table: Neuropathologial findings of Epileptic spasms and Partial seizures' Conclusions: While epileptic spasm patients required multilobar resections, there were no morphological differences in cortex and white matter between patients with epileptic spasms and partial seizures. There was no specific histopathological findings in epileptic spasms with the exception of two patients with HPA. Specimens were mainly cortical resections and demonstrated a limited amount of subcortical white matter. This represents a bias. Study of the deeper subcortical white matter and the assessment of other cortical parameters (neurotransmitters and receptors) need further investigation.