Epileptogenesis in human epileptic tissue. Structural and electrophysiological characteristics of the human epileptogenic tissue obtained from surgeries for epilepsy treatment. Clinical, electrographical and pathological correlations

Abstract

Epilepsy is a frequent neurological disturbance which affects around 1 % of the population. Thirty to fourty per cent of patients present epileptic seizures which are considered refractory to antiepileptic drugs. The understanding of the epileptogenicity in this population would allow the development of new therapeutic modalities and adequate medical approach of this population. Mesial temporal sclerosis, cortical developmental malformations and indolent tumors of the nervous system are among the pathological findings more commonly seen in this group of epileptic patients. The objective of this research aims to elucidate the mechanisms of epileptogenicity in these lesions whose electrophysiological and morphological basis will be approached in three distinct steps. These permitted the differenciation of three subprojects: Subproject 1. electroclinical characterization of patients with refractory partial epilepsy due to lesions whose mechanisms of epileptogenicity are not yet well known as double pathology of the temporal lobe (mesial temporal sclerosis associated with other lesions) and the cortical developmental malformations and indolent tumors of the nervous system. Subproject 2. in vitro electrophysiological studies of the human epileptogenic tissue aiming at the investigation of the microphysiological basis involved in the epileptogenicy of mesial temporal sclerosis, cortical developmental malformations and indolent tumors of the nervous system. Subproject 3. anatomopathological characterization and molecular biology studies of the human epileptic tissue removed from these three types of lesions. (AU)