A surgical case of frontal lobe epilepsy due to focal cortical dysplasia accompanied by olfactory nerve enlargement: case report

Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 2014;54(7):593-7. doi: 10.2176/nmc.cr.2013-0173. Epub 2013 Dec 27.

Abstract

A 45-year-old man came to our clinic due to refractory general tonic seizure and an attack of unintended yelling. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated mild cortical hyperintensity on fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) image in the left basal frontal area. Enlargement of the left olfactory nerve was also detected below the affected gyrus. Subtotal resection of the MRI-visible epileptogenic lesion was performed without any neurological deficit. The final pathological diagnosis was focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type IIa. Seizures and yelling attacks subsided after surgery. Extracerebral abnormalities, including cranial nerve enlargement, are common in patients with hemimegalencephaly. However, such abnormalities are rare with FCD.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Dominance, Cerebral / physiology
  • Epilepsy / diagnosis*
  • Epilepsy / surgery*
  • Epilepsy, Frontal Lobe / diagnosis
  • Epilepsy, Frontal Lobe / surgery*
  • Frontal Lobe / surgery
  • Hemimegalencephaly / diagnosis
  • Hemimegalencephaly / surgery
  • Humans
  • Hyperplasia
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Malformations of Cortical Development, Group I / diagnosis*
  • Malformations of Cortical Development, Group I / surgery*
  • Microsurgery / methods
  • Middle Aged
  • Olfactory Nerve / pathology*

Supplementary concepts

  • Focal cortical dysplasia of Taylor