Postictal Hypoperfusion
Work in animal models has shown that postictal symptoms (symptoms following a seizure) correspond to a lack of oxygen in the brain after seizures. We aim to investigate this phenomenon in humans.
An example of vascular dynamics imaging obtained through CT Perfusion imaging. These brain maps show the relative amount of cerebral blood flow (left) and cerebral blood volume (right).
Although seizures are classically associated with abnormal electrical activity, recent work has suggested that there is also disrupted vascular activity following a seizure. Our lab has been involved in ground-breaking recent work that found significant and long-lasting blood flow reductions in the brain following a seizure. In humans, we have been able to detect reductions in blood flow using arterial spin labelling MRI that lasts upwards of an hour following a seizure and tend to co-localize with the region of seizure onset. We have been able to show similar results in less expensive and more readily available methods of neuroimaging such as CT Perfusion, allowing these blood flow changes to be studied in a broader population.
We are currently investigating other measures of vascular changes that occur following seizures, as well as collaborating with other labs to investigate metabolic and vascular hypoxia in people with epilepsy. We are working to replicate rodent findings in humans and to investigate the use of vasodilating drugs for the treatment of postictal symptoms.
Click here to see our recent paper on posticital hypoperfusion and SUDEP or here to see our recent paper on localizing the seizure onset zone using postictal hypoperfusion.