Abstract #2207

Comparison of in Vivo MRS Glutamate/Glutamine Levels in Tumor-Associated Epilepsy

Christopher Steward¹, Bradford Moffat¹, Tanya Yuen², Terence O'Brien², Patricia Desmond¹, Andrew Morokoff³, Chris Kokkinos⁴

¹Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; ²Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; ³Surgery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; ⁴Radiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The pathogenesis of tumour associated seizures (TAS), a common co-morbidity with brain tumors remains poorly understood. Glutomate has been implicated in many types of epilepsy. In a pilot study the concentration of glutamate/glutamine associated with gliomas using in vivo MRS was studied, and correlated with observed pre-operative seizures. Elevated glutamate/glutamine levels were found in the peritumoral area of tumours who experienced pre-operative seizures compared to those which did not. Due to the small sample size, we are in the process of acquiring a larger MRS and ex vivo prospective data set (N>100) to confirm these findings.