Structural association between heterotopia and cortical lesions visualised with 7 T MRI in patients with focal epilepsy.

Purpose: To analyze structural characteristics of malformations of cortical development (MCD) at 7T and 3T MRI.

Methods: Twenty-five patients were examined with a 7T MRI-scanner in addition to 3T examinations performed for epilepsy evaluation. 7T sequences included a 3D-T1-weighted (T1w) MPRAGE, 3D-T2w FLAIR, and heavily T2w axial and coronal high-resolution (0.

Tensor-valued diffusion MRI differentiates cortex and white matter in malformations of cortical development associated with epilepsy.

Objective: Delineation of malformations of cortical development (MCD) is central in presurgical evaluation of drug-resistant epilepsy. Delineation using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be ambiguous, however, because the conventional T - and T -weighted contrasts depend strongly on myelin for differentiation of cortical tissue and white matter. Variations in myelin content within both cortex and white matter may cause MCD findings on MRI to change size, become undetectable, or disagree with histopathology.