Altered hemispheric symmetry found in left-sided mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE/HS) but not found in right-sided MTLE/HS.

PURPOSE: The purpose was to investigate the altered hemispheric asymmetry in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with unilateral hippocampus sclerosis (MTLE/HS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study examined the hemispheric asymmetry of regional gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volume among a group of 13 patients with left-sided MTLE/HS, a group of 10 patients with right-sided MTLE/HS and a group of 21 age- and gender- matched healthy controls by optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on magnetic resonance imaging.

RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, abnormal asymmetries were detected in the left-sided MTLE/HS patients. The left-sided MTLE/HS patients had more GM asymmetries (L
CONCLUSION: We should approach hemispheric asymmetry in left- and right-sided MTLE/HS patients differently. The study also demonstrates potential future use of VBM in detecting hemispheric asymmetries and lateralization of brain functions.