Abstracts

Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors (DNTs) are often associated with medically intractable epilepsy in childhood, but also with favorable outcome after epilepsy surgery. Aim of this study is to delineate the clinical characteristics of DNTs and to find an adequate method of epilepsy surgery of DNTs in childhood., A retrospective analysis was done on the clinical, pathologic, and radiological data of 19 patients, who were presented with seizure and had been found to have DNTs after surgery, between Jan 1996 and April 2005. Epilepsy surgery was performed using intraoperative electrocorticography or subdural electrodes in all patients except one., Mean follow-up duration after surgery was 28 months. Of the 19 patients (mean age at surgery 12 year 6 months), All patients showed a favorable outcome (class I [ndash] 18, class II - 1). Temporal lobe was the most frequent site of tumor involvement (15 cases). All the lesions showing active epileptogenicity were resected with the tumor. There was associated cortical dysplasia (CD) on pathology of the resected lesion besides tumor in 12 cases., We found that the DNT was frequently associated with CD and the active epileptogenic lesions were associated with CD. So the precise presurgical localization of epileptic focus, perioperative brain mapping, and radical resection of the epileptogenic lesion including tumor would be the essential requirement for the favorable surgical outcome in childhood DNTs.,