Interictal hypermetabolic subcortical band on brain FDG-PET in doublecortin mutation
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments

A 13-year-old girl with generalized tonic and grand mal seizures had brain MRI that revealed subcortical band heterotopia (SBH) (figure 1). Twenty-four-hour EEG showed pervasive generalized slow spike and wave pattern (figure 2). Blood DNA confirmed a mutation in the doublecortin (DCX) gene. Interictal 18-fluoro-deoxy (FDG) PET showed reduced FDG uptake (∼10%) in the cerebral cortex and intensely increased uptake (∼20%) in the subcortical band (figure 1), suggesting epileptogenic subcortical band correlating with pervasive slow spike wave pattern on simultaneous EEG. Two PET reports1,2 showed similar or minor increased FDG uptake in the heterotopic band compared to the cerebral cortex.
Figure 1 Brain MRI revealing subcortical band heterotopia
T2-weighted brain MRI (A) shows subcortical band heterotopia. Compared to basal ganglion on a 10% point color scale, FDG-PET (B) shows intensely increased FDG uptake (arrows) by the subcortical band and reduced uptake by the cerebral cortex (arrowheads).
Figure 2 Interictal scalp EEG with generalized slow spike and wave (100–200 mAmp, 1.5–2.5 Hz, in runs of 2–5 seconds) maximum in the parieto-occipital (80%, illustrated in figure) and frontal (20%) regions present during 70% of record
1. Miura K, Watanabe K, Maeda N, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography of band heterotopia. Brain Dev 1993;15:288–290.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
2. De Volder AG, Gadisseux JF, Michel CJ, et al. Brain glucose utilization in band heterotopia: synaptic activity of “double cortex”. Pediatr Neurol 1994;11:290–294.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
Footnotes
-
Disclosure: The authors report no disclosures.
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
NOTE: All authors' disclosures must be entered and current in our database before comments can be posted. Enter and update disclosures at http://submit.neurology.org. Exception: replies to comments concerning an article you originally authored do not require updated disclosures.
- Stay timely. Submit only on articles published within the last 8 weeks.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- 200 words maximum.
- 5 references maximum. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- 5 authors maximum. Exception: replies can include all original authors of the article.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Related Articles
- No related articles found.