High frequency oscillations and seizure frequency in patients with focal epilepsy

High frequency oscillations (HFOs) have been associated with epileptogenicity. In rats, the extent of HFOs (>200 Hz) is correlated with seizure frequency. We studied whether the same applies to patients with focal epilepsy. Thirty-nine patients with intracerebral EEG sampled at 2000 Hz were studied for interictal ripples (80-250 Hz), fast ripples (FR, 250-500 Hz) and spikes. Seizure frequency before implantation was compared to numbers of channels with HFOs (>1 /min). Analyses were repeated for HFO rates of >5, >10 and >20. Separate analyses were done for 25 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy only and for a selection of similar unilateral temporal channels in 12 patients. No linear correlation or trend was found relating the number of channels with HFOs and seizure frequency. There was a linear positive correlation between the number of channels with more than 20 FRs/min and seizure frequency. The hypothesis that the more tissue generating HFOs, the higher the seizure frequency, was not confirmed, though there might be a correlation for high FR rates. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.