Postoperative recovery of hippocampal contralateral diffusivity in medial temporal lobe epilepsy correlates with memory functions.

This study aimed at determining if the recovery of mean diffusivity (MD) in the contralateral non sclerotic hippocampus is correlated with a change in memory outcome after surgery in patients with medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Verbal and non-verbal memory scores and MD were assessed in 23 patients with MTLE before and after surgical treatment of epilepsy. The recovery of MD in the left hippocampus was correlated with the performance on verbal memory tests, and the recovery of MD in all patients was correlated with the performance on non-verbal memory tests. This finding strengthens the hypothesis that reversible diffusion abnormalities in the contralateral hippocampus in MTLE are linked to the active epileptic process that seems to interfere with memory abilities.