Novel Early Imaging Markers Following Febrile Status Epilepticus

Children'S Research Institute, Washington DC

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of early recruitment of children immediately following resolution of febrile status epilepticus and the successful acquisition of EEG and MRI studies within 6 hours of FSE cessation. These achievements are a necessary prerequisite to antiepileptogenesis trials designed to interrupt the acute cascade of events following FSE and thus prevent a common cause of temporal lobe epilepsy. This study builds on findings from the previous FEBSTAT clinical investigation trial and seeks to translate and validate novel imaging biomarkers of epileptogenesis identified in rodent febrile status models. We aim to identify altered T2* and T2 signal in hippocampus and amygdala within 6 hours of febrile status that may then be employed as biomarkers which can be used as targets for future clinical trials to prevent the adverse outcomes of FSE. The study also seeks to investigate neurological mechanisms underlying T2* signal and of hippocampal injury which can be evaluated by advanced multimodal imaging. This project will identify and remove the barriers to future intervention trials. The ultimate, long-term, goal of this project is to identify potential therapeutic targets, necessary for the prevention of hippocampal injury, and for the design and properly powered future interventions to prevent mesial temporal sclerosis caused by febrile status epilepticus, a common cause of pharmaco-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy.