Unilateral periventricular nodular heterotopia associated with diffuse areas of cerebral functional abnormalities

A 17-year-old boy with polymorphic simple and complex partial seizures is described. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a unilateral periventricular nodular heterotopia near the occipital ventricular right horn. Interictal and ictal electroencephalographic recordings showed bilateral specific epileptiform anomalies in the occipital region and asynchronous slow waves in frontal areas. Single photon emission computed tomography documented a reduction in regional cerebral blood flow in an area of the left occipital cortex and a symmetric increase in tracer uptake in the frontal lobes. The neuropsychologic assessment revealed a dysfunction of the frontal associative areas. Data collected led the authors to suspect a more diffuse cortical dysfunction than the nodular heterotopia revealed on magnetic resonance imaging.