Abstract
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) has been applied for various neurological diseases including epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, and cognitive dysfunction. However, apart from epilepsy, the scientific evidence validating the use of MEG for neurological diseases in children remains unclear. In this study, we reviewed clinical MEG studies of neurological diseases in children based on a website bibliographic survey. We searched MEG research articles on pediatric neurological diseases published before June 2010 on MEDLINE using the following key words: child AND (MEG OR magnetoencephalography), and retrieved 93 papers. We further narrowed the search to 14 papers by excluding review articles, single case reports, and papers on epilepsy. The diagnoses of patients described in the 14 papers were dioxin exposure, periventricle leukomaracia, polymicrogyria, albinism, moyo-moya disease, Angelman syndrome, dyslexia, ADHD, and pervasive developmental disorders. The levels of evidences for the conclusions were classified as 1: no paper, 2a: 10 papers and 2b: 4 papers, respectively. The recommendation grade was B in all articles. MEG is not popular at present for assessing childhood neurological diseases other than epilepsy. However, it has the potential to become a valuable tool for studying the functions of underdeveloped brain because it is total noninvasive and therefore permits repeat examinations in children.
