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Temporal Lobe Surgery for Epilepsy: Neuropsychological Variables Related to Surgical Outcome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Gabriel Leonard
Gabriel Leonard*
Affiliation:
Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal
*
Montreal Neurological Institute, 3801 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2B4
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Abstract:

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A retrospective study of 383 patients who had undergone either left or right anterior temporal lobectomy (varying with respect to the amount of hippocampus excised) revealed that there were no significant differences in surgical outcome between those patients having a large and those patients having a small hippocampal removal. Although left temporal-lobe excisions were significantly smaller than right temporal-lobe excisions, both medially and laterally, patients with left temporal-lobe removals had an overall better surgical outcome. Patients in the successful surgicaloutcome group did better than the unsuccessful surgical-outcome group on a variety of cognitive measures, including tests of intelligence, delayed verbal memory, and verbal fluency. The results suggest that, for many patients with medically intractable epilepsy, an anterior temporal lobectomy including the amygdala may suffice to reduce their seizure frequency.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue S4 , November 1991 , pp. 593 - 597
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1991

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