Preserved anterograde and remote memory in drug-responsive temporal lobe epileptic patients.

Purpose: To investigate cognition, particularly anterograde and remote memory, in patients suffering from unilateral drug-responsive mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) patients and to compare their performance with that observed in drug-resistant mTLE patients.

Methods: Sixteen drug-responsive mTLE patients, with only infrequent seizures in their lifetime, were matched for demographic and clinical variables to 18 patients suffering from drug-resistant unilateral mTLE. A comprehensive neuropsychological examination, including baseline, anterograde memory tasks, and a large range of remote memory tests was carried out.

The influence of seizure frequency on anterograde and remote memory in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Purpose: Seizure frequency, although considered as an important factor in memory impairment in mesial temporal epilepsy (mTLE), is mostly confounded with other clinical variables, making it unclear to what extent recurrent seizures actually interfere with memory. The present study focuses on the influence of seizure frequency, studied as a main variable, on anterograde and remote memory.

Methods: Seventy-one patients with unilateral mTLE were divided into two subgroups, as a function of their seizure frequency (monthly versus weekly seizures).