Effects of Surgery on the Frequency of Pseudoseizures (PS) in Patients with Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) and PS Documented Preoperatively.
Abstract number :
2.210
Submission category :
Year :
2000
Submission ID :
1261
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/2/2000 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2000, 06:00 AM
Authors :
Leila Frayman, Jose A Buratini, Meire Argentoni, Viviane B Ferreira, Arthur Cukiert, Cassio Forster, Elcio Machado, Alcione Sousa, Joaquim Vieira, Hosp Brigadeiro, Sao Paulo Sp, Brazil; Hosp Brigadeiro, Sao Paulo Sp, Brazil.
RATIONALE: PS are more prevalent among refractory epileptic patients then in the general population. For a long time, many epilepsy surgery centers considered the occurance of PS as a contraindication for surgery. More recently, after discussion with the patient and his/her family about the different meaning of actual and PS, such patients have also been submitted to surgery. This paper reports the effect on the frequency of PS of cortical resection carried out for seizures' control in patients with refractory TLE. METHODS: Seven adult patients with refractory TLE were studied. All had PS confirmed preoperatively by means of video or video-EEG. All patients were submitted to a cortico-amygdalo-hippocampctomy. All patients have been seizure-free since surgery. RESULTS: In 6 patients, actual and PS disappeared altogether after surgery. One patient continue to have PS of the same type and frequency as preoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: PSs seem to be somehow related to actual seizures in patients with refractory TLE. Despite the fact the PSs frequently disappear after successful epilepsy surgery, they might remain unaltered in a minority of patients and continue to represent a source of inadequate psycho-social development.