Abstracts

Rationale: We present the outcome of epilepsy surgery in 64 pediatric patients (< 16 years) operated as part of the national program for epilepsy surgery in Norway. Methods: In the period 1995-2004 73 surgical procedures were performed in 64 pediatric patients. The medical records were reviewed, and questionnaires about the epilepsy and general functioning were sent to the patients/parents. Mean age of seizure onset was 3 years (range: 1 day-11 years). Mean age at surgery was 8.4 years (0.5–15.8 years). Mean follow-up period for the questionnaire study was 7 years (2-11 years). Results: We received answers from 45/63 patients. 71% claimed to have achieved clinical improvement after surgery (> 50% seizure reduction). 22/45 was seizure free. 31/45 reported of a better life after the operation, while 9/45 reported of no change. Review of the medical records 2 years after surgery revealed clinical improvement in 58% (Engel I-III) (I 29/64, II 4/64, III 4/64). 21/64 was classified to Engel IV, 6/64 could not be classified. Best seizure control was found after temporal resections (10/19 with Engel 1) and functional hemispherotomies (9/10 with Engel 1). Extra temporal resections had less favorable results (10/25 Engel 1, 11 /25 Engel IV). An anterior callosotomy was performed in 6 patients; these patients continued to have a difficult seizure situation, and later on they got a vagus stimulator. Conclusions: Our results support previous reports on epilepsy surgery in children with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. We report best results after temporal resections and hemispherotomies.