Articles

Epileptogenic but MRI-normal perituberal tissue in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex contains tuber-specific abnormalities

Sosunov, Alexandre A.; McGovern III, Robert Allen; Mikell, Charles B.; Wu, Xiaoping; Coughlin, David G.; Crino, Peter B.; Weiner, Howard L.; Ghatan, Saadi; Goldman, James E.; McKhann II, Guy M.

Introduction: Recent evidence has implicated perituberal, MRI-normal brain tissue as a possible source of seizures in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Data on aberrant structural features in this area that may predispose to the
initiation or progression of seizures are very limited. We used immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy to compare epileptogenic, perituberal, MRI-normal tissue with cortical tubers. Results: In every sample of epileptogenic, perituberal tissue, we found many abnormal cell types, including giant cells and cytomegalic neurons. The majority of giant cells were surrounded by morphologically abnormal astrocytes with long
processes typical of interlaminar astrocytes. Perituberal giant cells and astrocytes together formed characteristic “microtubers”. A parallel analysis of tubers showed that many contained astrocytes with features of both protoplasmic and gliotic cells. Conclusions: Microtubers represent a novel pathognomonic finding in TSC and may represent an elementary unit of
cortical tubers. Microtubers and cytomegalic neurons in perituberal parenchyma may serve as the source of seizures in TSC and provide potential targets for therapeutic and surgical interventions in TSC.

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Also Published In

Title
Acta Neuropathologica Communications
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-015-0191-5

More About This Work

Academic Units
Neurological Surgery
Pathology and Cell Biology
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published Here
July 31, 2015