Abstracts

Epilepsy surgery is an effective treatment for seizure control, especially in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Morbidity is low, often limited to visual field defect and memory problems. However, long-term cognitive and emotional effects are poorly documented, especially in selective amygdalo-hippocampectomy (Sel-AH). This paper studied memory (hippocampus,) emotions (amygdala) and quality of life (QOL) in 21 TLE patients after Sel-AH., Out of 31 Sel-AH patients operated between 2001 and 2005, 21 adults (5M, mean age 35 (19-53) years, 15 left) completed the tests; 4 children or teenagers were excluded, 4 refused or did not answer, 2 died of possible SUDEP more than 2 years after AH. Memory (immediate, work and general) was tested subjectively (QAM) and objectively (MEM-III Wechsler 3^rd ed). QOL was appreciated with QOLIE-31-P questionary and emotions were analyzed by presenting computed pictures of fear, sadness and joy (Mann-Witney and Greenhouse-Geisser tests). Results were compared to matched controls or control population., 15 (71.43%) are seizure free since surgery. 4 complained spontaneously from memory and 4 were chronically depressed, already before AH. For [underline]memory[/underline], patients[apos] performances are inferior to controls[apos] in QAM for reading and movie, especially in left AH. With MEM-III test, patients are less competent than controls, but work memory is the most preserved or the best recovered without side inference of AH. There is no correlation between QAM and MEM-III results. For [underline]QOL[/underline], patients are less anxious than unoperated epilepsy controls regarding seizures and medications. However, patients are more anxious than controls in general regarding the ongoing (test) situation. In [underline]emotional testing,[/underline] there are significant differences between controls and patients, for control situations (human-animal and male-female) and in emotional testings: patients made more errors and more omissions with a slightly increased reaction time (RT). However, these differences were minimal without side inference of AH., Memory, QOL and emotions have been tested in 21 adult Sel-AH patients, compared to matched controls or control population. Memory is less performant in patients compared to controls, but not deteriorated by surgery. QOL is improved in surgery patients compared to unoperated epilepsy patients regarding seizures and medications. For emotions, patients differ significantly from controls by making more errors and omissions with a slightly increased RT. However, these results are the same for test and emotional situations and are probably unrelated to surgery.,