Case Report: Subtotal Hemispherotomy Modulates the Epileptic Spasms in Aicardi Syndrome

Abstract

The mechanism of epileptic spasms (ES) in Aicardi syndrome (AS) remains obscure. We compared intraoperative high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) before and after subtotal hemispherotomy in a 3-month-old girl with drug-resistant ES secondary to AS. Fetal ultrasonography showing corpus callosum agenesis, bilateral ventricular dilatation, and a large choroid plexus cyst confirmed AS diagnosis. Her ES started when she was 1 month old and had ten series of clustered ES per day despite phenobarbital and vitamin B6 treatment. After subtotal hemispherotomy, her ES dramatically improved. We analyzed two intraoperative electrocorticography modalities: (1), occurrence rate (OR) of HFOs; (2), PAC of HFOs and slow wave bands in the frontal, central, and parietal areas. We hypothesized that HFOs and PAC could be the biomarkers for efficacy of subtotal hemispherotomy in AS with ES. PAC in all three areas and OR of HFOs in the frontal and parietal areas significantly decreased, while OR of HFOs in the central area remained unchanged after subtotal hemispherotomy. We have demonstrated the usefulness of evaluating intraoperative HFOs and PAC to assess subtotal hemispherotomy effectiveness in AS patients with ES. Disconnecting the thalamocortical and subcortical pathways in the epileptic network plays a role in controlling ES generation.