Cerebral glucose metabolism in the Lennox‐Gastaut syndrome

We used positron emission tomography with fluorine 18–labeled 2‐deoxyglucose to study cerebral glucose metabolism in 10 patients with Lennox‐Gastaut syndrome who had normal neuroradiological studies. The scans showed decreased metabolic rates relative both to those in the caudate nucleus and to normal control values in 3 patients whose seizures began before the age of 1, as well as in a patient with hyperprolinemia. No patient had a region of persistent focal hypometabolism. Metabolic rates increased in parallel with increased electroencephalographic discharges in 1 patient; 3 patients had lower metabolic rates when the electroencephalogram showed epileptiform discharges and while the patients were taking barbiturates.