Left hemispherectomy in older children and adolescents: outcome of cognitive abilities.

Purpose: Hemispherectomy is an effective treatment option for pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Nevertheless, when high cortical functions are at risk during the presurgical evaluation, especially for older children, and for the left hemisphere, despite good seizure outcome, the anticipated decrease of cognitive functions may prevent a decision to perform surgery. The objective of this study is to report the cognitive outcome, based on verbal and performance intelligence skills, in a series of older children and adolescents who underwent left hemispherectomy, analyzing the risks (residual cognitive deficit) and benefits (seizure reduction) of surgery.

Hemispheric surgery for refractory epilepsy in children and adolescents: outcome regarding seizures, motor skills and adaptive function.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to report the seizure outcome, motor skills and adaptive motor functions in a series of children and adolescents who underwent hemispheric surgery, analysing the risk-benefits of surgery.

Methods: The clinical course, seizure and motor function outcomes of 15 patients who underwent hemispheric surgery were reviewed.

Results: The mean age at surgery was 9.

Corpus callosotomy in a patient with startle epilepsy.

Startle epilepsy is a syndrome of reflex epilepsy in which the seizures are precipitated by a sudden and surprising, usually auditory, stimulus. We describe herein a girl who had been suffering with startle-induced seizures since 2 years of age. She had focal, tonic and tonic-clonic seizures, refractory to antiepileptic treatment.

Gastaut type idiopathic childhood occipital epilepsy.

Gastaut type idiopathic childhood occipital epilepsy is an uncommon epileptic syndrome characterised by frequent seizures, most commonly presenting as elementary visual hallucinations or blindness. Other occipital (non-visual) symptoms may also occur. Interictal EEG typically shows occipital paroxysms, often with fixation-off sensitivity.

Granule cell dispersion is associated with memory impairment in right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Purpose: We analyzed the association of granule cell dispersion (GCD) with memory performance, clinical data and surgical outcome in a series of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS).

Method: Hippocampal specimens from 54 patients with MTLE (27 patients with right MTLE and 27 with left MTLE) and unilateral MTS, who were separated into GCD and no-GCD groups and thirteen controls were studied. Quantitative neuropathological evaluation was performed using hippocampal sections stained with NeuN.

Granule cell dispersion is not a predictor of surgical outcome in temporal lobe epilepsy with mesial temporal sclerosis.

The aim of this retrospective study of a series of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) was to analyze the association of granule cell dispersion (GCD) with surgical prognosis, patterns of MTS and clinical data. Hippocampal specimens from 66 patients with MTLE and unilateral MTS and from 13 controls were studied. Quantitative neuropathological evaluation was performed on NeuN-stained hippocampal sections.

Long-term outcome after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery in 434 consecutive adult patients.

Object: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery and potential risk factors for seizure recurrence after surgery.

Methods: This retrospective study included 434 consecutive adult patients who underwent TLE surgery at Bethel Epilepsy Centre between 1991 and 2002.

Results: Hippocampal sclerosis was found in 62% of patients, gliosis in 17.