Association of Localizing F-FDG-PET Hypometabolism and Outcome Following Epilepsy Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Although commonly used in the evaluation of patients for epilepsy surgery, the association between the detection of localizing fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose PET (F-FDG-PET) hypometabolism and epilepsy surgery outcome is uncertain. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether localizing F-FDG-PET hypometabolism is associated with favorable outcome after epilepsy surgery.

Methods: A systematic literature search was undertaken. Eligible publications included evaluation with F-FDG-PET before epilepsy surgery, with ≥10 participants, and those that reported surgical outcome at ≥12 months. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to calculate the odds of achieving a favorable outcome, defined as Engel class I, International League Against Epilepsy class 1-2, or seizure-free, with localizing F-FDG-PET hypometabolism, defined as concordant with the epilepsy surgery resection zone. Meta-regression was used to characterize sources of heterogeneity.

Results: The database search identified 8,916 studies, of which 98 were included (total patients n = 4,104). Localizing F-FDG-PET hypometabolism was associated with favorable outcome after epilepsy surgery for all patients with odds ratio (OR) 2.68 (95% CI 2.08-3.45). Subgroup analysis yielded similar findings for those with (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.54-4.52) and without epileptogenic lesion detected on MRI (OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.80-3.44). Concordance with EEG (OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.43-3.83), MRI (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.19-2.40), and triple concordance with both (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.32-3.64) was associated with higher odds of favorable outcome. By contrast, diffuse F-FDG-PET hypometabolism was associated with worse outcomes compared with focal hypometabolism (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.22-0.54).

Discussion: Localizing F-FDG-PET hypometabolism is associated with favorable outcome after epilepsy surgery, irrespective of the presence of an epileptogenic lesion on MRI. The extent of F-FDG-PET hypometabolism provides additional information, with diffuse hypometabolism associated with worse surgical outcome than focal F-FDG-PET hypometabolism. These findings support the incorporation of F-FDG-PET into routine noninvasive investigations for patients being evaluated for epilepsy surgery to improve epileptogenic zone localization and to aid patient selection for surgery.