MR detection of hippocampal disease in epilepsy: Factors influencing T2 relaxation time

Abstract

PURPOSE: To assess the reproducibility and stability of hippocampal T2 relaxation times and examine the effects of patients' age, seizures, and duration of epilepsy on this measure. METHODS: Hippocampal T2 relaxation times were measured in 63 patients with chronic epilepsy (55 with partial and 8 with idiopathic generalized seizures) using a Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence, echo times 22 to 262 millisecond, on a 1.5-T clinical MR imaging system. Twenty-three patients on stable medication regimens underwent repeated T2 relaxometry after an interval of between 115 and 331 days. In 4 patients with partial seizures, hippocampal T2 relaxation times were measured interictally and again within 45..