Comparison of 3.0-T MRI findings in drug resistant and non-resistant adult epileptic patients

Epilepsy is a common chronic disease characterized by spontaneous and recurrent seizures. Along with the increases in life expectancy, the prevalence of epilepsy in adults increased in parallel. 3.0-T MRI provides high signal/noise ratio and is an important tool in the determination of epileptic lesion in epilepsy patients. Our aim in this study was to research and compare 3.0-T MRI findings of Turkish epileptic patients that are resistant and non-resistant to medical treatment. 3.0-T MRI images from 264 consecutive patients, of which 150 were males and 114 were females (age range 18–82 years; mean age 31.3 years) were examined, retrospectively. Among those patients, 94 were resistant to medical treatment (DRE+) and 170 were non-resistant (DRE−). Epileptic lesion was determined in 119 of the patients. Epileptic lesion was determined in sixty-three patients who were resistant to medical treatment and in fifty-six patients who were non-resistant. Epileptic lesion was determined in approximately half of the adult epilepsy patients by using 3.0-T MRI. This study demonstrates a high prevalence of brain abnormalities in Turkish epileptic patients with DRE+. The lesion was determined in 67% of patients with medical treatment resistance, while the percentage for the other group was only 32.9%. The ratio of epileptic lesion determination by using 3.0-T MRI was quite higher in the medical treatment resistant group than the non-resistant group.