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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1975

Outcome of surgery in 40 children with temporal-lobe epilepsy.

Temporal-lobe epilepsy commonly has its origins in childhood, particularly when the lesion involved is mesial temporal (Ammon's horn) Sclerosis. Evidence suggests that this lesion is probably a common cause of chronic epilepsy in adults and that often it is probably the result of a severe febrile convulsion in infancy. 40 children, fifteen years of age and younger, who had an anterior temporal lobectomy were followed up for one to twenty-four years. The findings confirm those already established in adults, that the best results of surgery, not only in seizure relief but also in behaviour, are obtained when mesial temporal sclerosis is the lesion found at operation, and also indicate that a severe febrile convulsion in infancy is often the chief provocative factor in the development of epilepsy.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1977

The measurement of emotional concepts in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Eleven temporal lobe epileptics, implanted with depth electrodes, 21 post-lobectomy epileptics, and 24 orthopedic controls were given a semantic differential test, which measured responses along 4 scales (evaluative, potency, activity, and danger) of 18 emotional and 1 non-emotional concepts. Results showed that post-lobectomy females thought of themselves as more dangerous than did orthopedic control females. Both post-lobectomy and implantation patients found the anger-hostility and fear-anxiety concepts less bad, potent, active, and dangerous than did the orthopedic controls. The post-lobectomy and implantation patients found the concept "sexual intercourse" and other non-sexual love-related concepts to be worse and more dangerous, but less potent and active than did the orthopedic controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Reproductive function in temporal lobe epilepsy: the effect of temporal lobectomy.

We have examined sexual and reproductive changes in 25 patients (11 men and 14 women; mean follow-up 13 years) with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent temporal lobectomy. Five men and two women had sexual dysfunction preoperatively, in particular, decreased libido. This improved after temporal lobectomy in three of these patients. One woman developed a partial Klüver-Bucy syndrome. Reproductive dysfunction was present in one man (oligospermia) and in ten women (four had the onset of seizures either at pregnancy or menarche; four had increased frequency of seizures during menarche or pregnancy, and two had amenorrhea). The man fathered two children post-operatively, and an appreciable improvement in both the seizure activity and the reproductive dysfunction was noted in the majority of the women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Temporal lobe epilepsy and neuropathology. Histological findings in resected temporal lobes correlated to surgical results and clinical aspects.

Neuropathological findings were studied in 74 patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent unilateral temporal lobe resection in 1960-1969 in Denmark. In 60 per cent of the patients a well-defined neuropathological abnormality was revealed (i.e. 13 cases of focal lesions, including four small tumours, 21 cases of gliosis, and 10 cases of perivascular infiltration), in 23 per cent the findings were either questionably abnormal or without structural abnormality, while in the last 18 per cent sequelae of a previous operation dominated the histology. The general trend was for the postoperative clinical outcome to be better, the more specific and circumscribed the histological abnormality. There was no correlation between the neuropathological findings and the preoperative types of seizures. Postoperative recurrence of seizures was more often observed in patients with gliosis than in those with other histological diagnoses. A positive correlation existed between a history of cerebral infection and the presence of perivascular lymphocytic and histiocytic infiltration, and gliosis was a frequent finding in patients with epilepsy of unknown aetiology. No other significant correlation was found between the neuropathological abnormalities and the clinical, hereditary, aetiological, and social aspects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Temporal lobe epilepsy. Follow-up investigation of 74 temporal lobe resected patients.

This survey covers 74 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, resistant to medication, who underwent unilateral temporal lobectomy during the years 1960-1969 at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. Preoperatively all patients were socially incapacitated. In all patients a unilateral or predominantly unilateral temporal EEG focus was found. No tumour or gross vascular malformation had been recognized before or during operation. At follow-up 45 patients were free from seizures. A further 15 had obtained a reduction in their seizure frequencies by at least 75%, while the remaining 10 survivors, only obtained a slight improvement or remained unchanged. There were four deaths. The operation also favourably influenced the psychiatric status, which was found closely related to relief from seizures. Prognostically favourable factors were: i) preoperative presence of a single type of seizure, ii) duration of epilepsy of less than four years, iii) operation in or before early adulthood, iv) an anterior temporal or sphenoidal electrode focus, or both, on the EEG. The prognostically unfavourable factors regarding complete relief from seizures were: i) preoperative presence of grand mal, ii) age at onset of epilepsy or of the first grand mal seizure between 5 and 19 years of age, iii) preoperative duration of epilepsy of over ten years and of grand mal of over one year. Prognostically unfavourable factors regarding psychiatric normalization were: i) preoperative presence of psychosis, ii) ictal-affective attacks or automatisms of a complex nature, iii) impairment of intellectual functions. The eventual neuropathological conclusion was that the more specific and circumscribed the histological abnormality the better the final outcome. The social rehabilitation was found to be significantly improved by operation at an early age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

The orienting reflex in cats with experimental temporal lobe epilepsy.

Aluminum-induced temporal lobe epilepsy in 24 cats showed marked interictal intensification of somatic and EEG components of the orienting reaction and increase in their resistance to habituation. The greatest disturbances of the orienting response were noted in cases of bitemporal foci, of foci situated in the allocortex (hippocampus and amygdala) and of foci inducing generalized or generalized and partial seizures.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Hippocampal volumetric and morphometric studies in frontal and temporal lobe epilepsy.

The most common temporal lobe pathology is Ammons Horn sclerosis (AHS), and several different imaging techniques have been utilized to detect this with varying success. We describe the clinical application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a three-dimensional volume technique which allows total hippocampal volume to be measured and symmetry evaluated. Hippocampal surface area was calculated in sequential 1.5 mm thick contiguous images, using a GE IC workstation. Total volumes and surface areas were calculated. The cross-sectional surface area at 1.5 mm intervals was displayed graphically, permitting morphometric analysis of the hippocampus throughout its length. Focal atrophy within any part of the hippocampal formation (HF) and its extent could thus be assessed. Patients with well-lateralized temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) (n = 20) and well-defined frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) (n = 20) were studied, and volumes compared with normal values derived from 10 neurologically normal controls. Asymmetric hippocampal volume loss was demonstrated in all 20 patients with clinically typed TLE, but not in normal controls or patients with FLE. Volume loss distribution was anterior in 12 patients, posterior in one patient and widespread in seven patients. Secondarily generalized seizures were strongly associated with widespread loss. This method of surface area and volumetric analysis of the hippocampus in TLE can demonstrate asymmetry and focal involvement, and help distinguish between hippocampal and frontal pathologies.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Neurotransmitters and their receptors in human temporal lobe epilepsy.

Patients with medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) undergo medial temporal lobectomy with hippocampectomy for one of two reasons. (1) A lesion (tumor or arteriovenous malformation) adjacent to, but not invasive of, the hippocampus, results in the removal of the lesion and adjacent hippocampus in order to ensure a tumor-free margin. This group will be referred to as tumor-related TLE (TTLE) patients. (2) The operation is performed when depth electrode recordings and other evaluative techniques point to the hippocampus as the focus of seizure initiation. This group will be referred to as cryptogenic TLE (CTLE) patients. Analysis of the hippocampi of these two groups of patients reveals that the TTLE hippocampus is quite similar to that of autopsy subjects in its chemical neuroanatomy. However, the dentate gyrus of the CTLE patients shows considerable morphological and cytochemical reorganization. This reorganization is characterized by a number of features. (1) There is a loss of granule cells which occurs either as a patchy loss and/or a thinning of the granule cell layer. (2) Remaining granule cells which contain dynorphin appear to produce recurrent collaterals into the inner molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. (3) In the subgranular region of the hilus (the polymorphic layer) there is a selective loss of interneurons immunoreactive for somatostatin, neuropeptide Y and substance P. (4) There appears to be an increase in fibers immunoreactive for somatostatin and neuropeptide Y which extend throughout the dentate molecular layer. Somatostatin fibers being less numerous than neuropeptide Y fibers (5). The distributions of a number of neurotransmitter receptors also show striking reorganization in the dentate gyrus of the CTLE hippocampus. (6) Second messenger systems protein kinase C and adenylate cyclase, and Na+, K(+)-ATPase activity, as determined by ouabain binding, is increased in the molecular layer of CTLE. This remodeling of the CTLE hippocampus may hold the key to the mechanisms of hyperexcitability of the granule cells in the hippocampus of this group, and consequently the generation of seizures. The removal of the hippocampus in CTLE patients results in good control of seizures, whereas removal of hippocampi that do not show such reorganization, in a group of patients classified as atypical CTLE patients, results in inadequate seizure control. These findings suggest a complex series of processes in converting the properly regulated granule cells into hyperexcitable ones.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antiepileptic drug treatment after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery: a randomized study comparing carbamazepine and polytherapy.

Temporal lobectomy is an effective treatment in selected patients with medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Postoperative antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment guidelines have not been established, and patients are often treated with polytherapy postoperatively. We prospectively randomized 40 patients undergoing temporal lobectomy to monotherapy with carbamazepine (CBZ, 20) or to continuation of their presurgical polytherapy (20) to assess the efficacy and safety of each regimen during the first year after operation. No significant differences between groups were noted with respect to seizure recurrence rate and type or time of recurrence. Patients in the polytherapy group had a 30% incidence of drug-related side effects as compared with only 10% in the CBZ group. These results suggest that after temporal lobectomy for intractable epilepsy, patients can be safely treated with CBZ monotherapy and that treatment with multiple AEDs is not necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Temporal lobe epilepsy and neuro-ophthalmology. Ophthalmological findings in 74 temporal lobe resected patients.

A survey is presented of the ophthalmological findings in 74 patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy, who underwent unilateral anterior temporal lobectomy 1960-1969 at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen. At follow-up, 1970-1971, one to ten years following the operation, 81% of the patients had no or only few seizures. Preoperatively 11% of the patients suffered from strabismus as compared to an expected frequency of 5%, but this trend just falls short of statistical significance. The visual acuity remained unchanged in all patients following the operation. Preoperatively a visual field defect was observed in 2 patients. At follow-up 51 patients had homonymous hemianopias, in 38 of them this was limited to the upper quadrants, and in 13 patients also included the lower quandrants, but was characterized as a total homonymous hemianopia in only 6 patients. The presence and extent of the visual field defects were correlated to surgical results, age at onset of epilepsy, age at operation, preoperative duration of epilepsy, presence of grand mal, preoperative complications, and neuropathological findings, but without observing any statistically significant conclusions. On the other hand, the extent of the postoperative visual field defect was significantly influenced by the side of the operation, with more and larger defects following right-sided lobectomies. In the 51 patients with postoperative hemianopias, this defect was either unobserved by the patient or regarded as a considerably less important handicap than the frequent and socially invalidating preoperative seizures...

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Mental aspects of temporal lobe epilepsy. Follow-up of 74 patients after resection of a temporal lobe.

Psychiatric disorders were investigated in 74 patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (complex partial epilepsy). In all cases unilateral anterior temporal lobectomy had been performed during the period 1960-69. At follow-up in 1970-71, 45 patients were free from seizures, and in a further group of 15 patients seizure frequency had been substantially reduced. There were four postoperative deaths. Six patients were psychiatrically normal and had no history of any such disorder. Behavioural disturbances were observed in 55 patients. Before operation 11 patients displayed schizophrenia-like psychoses, and nine others became psychotic during follow-up. Fourteen patients attempted suicide on one or more occasions. Half the patients had diminished sexual drive. Improvement in psychiatric status was clearly correlated with relief from seizures and, in those cases with only a few or no seizures after operation, led directly to social rehabilitation. The presence or absence of a psychiatric disorder was not useful as a criterion for or against surgery.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Quantitative analysis of interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Patients with unilateral temporal epileptic foci were contrasted with normal subjects and patients with neuromuscular disorders in the evaluation of specific psychosocial aspects of behavior. Eighteen traits were assessed in equivalent questionnaires completed by both subjects and observers. The epileptic patients self-reported a distinctive profile of humorless sobriety, dependence, and obsessionalism; raters discriminated temporal lobe epileptics on the basis of circumstantiality, philosophical interests, and anger. The right temporal epileptic displayed emotional tendencies in contrast to ideational traits of left temporal epileptic. Right temporal epileptics exhibited "denial," while left temporal epileptics demonstrated a "catastrophic" overemphasis of dissocial behavior. The results support the hypotheses that sensory-affective associations are established within the temporal lobes, and that, in man, there exists a hemispheric asymmetry in the expression of affect.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Stereotaxic surgery of temporal lobe epilepsy].

Forty patients with temporal epilepsy were operated on with a stereotaxic technique. Eleven patients had a unilateral localization of the epileptic focus, and in 29 bitemporal foci were diagnosed. In evaluating the results of the treatment the dynamics of the epileptic fits, the peculiarities of changes in the mental status, and the degree of social adaptation were taken into consideration. A postoperative improvement was achieved in 73% of the patients with monotemporal lesions, while in those with bitemporal epilepsy and distinct persistent mental disorders the state was improved in 44% of the cases. Indications for the choice of the zone of destruction depending on the clinical peculiarities of the lesion are presented.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Temporal lobe epilepsy and aggression.

Research on temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and aggression is reviewed in order to learn why it has not contributed more to our understanding of the neural basis of aggression. The research problem can be resolved into two questions: Are temporal lobe epileptics more aggressive? What inferences can be drawn about the factors underlying aggression in TLE? Difficulties in finding suitable operational definitions for TLE and for aggression have, to date, received insufficient attention. In published studies, sample bias and lack of regard for the validity and reliability of behavioral assessments prevent our deciding whether an association exists between interictal aggressive behavior and TLE. Even if this association were demonstrated, one could not draw direct neurobehavioral inferences from it, since a variety of social and psychological, as well as neurophysiological variables could contribute to the association. These would have to be controlled. Methodological refinements could lead to more satisfactory answers to the first question, but the second is considerably more difficult. Some sources of complexity and apparent contradictions in the experimental literature on the neurology of aggression are discussed. They consist of technical problems, the complexity of the neural substrate of aggression and the influence of environmental cues and learning. The combined use of electrophysiological and interview techniques has yielded some interesting results with TLE patients.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1977

Facial asymmetry in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. A clinical sign useful in the lateralization of temporal epileptogenic foci.

While a clinical history is frequently sufficient for a localizing diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy, lateralization of the epileptogenic abnormality often is impossible on clinical grounds alone. Since we have noted facial asymmetry in such patients, 50 individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy were studied. In patients with unilateral foci, we found contralateral lower facial weakness of mild to severe degree in 73 percent while 13 percent had ipsilateral weakness, and in 13 percent the face was symmetrical. The facial weakness usually was more striking on emotional movement. In the group of patients with bitemporal independent discharges, 61 percent had some asymmetry, often facial weakness on the side opposite the major focus. Of 25 control individuals, only one third had a facial asymmetry and this was slight. Facial asymmetry in temporal lobe epilepsy is a useful though not an absolute clinical lateralizing sign. It is a factor to be considered in addition to other clinical, radiologic, neuropsychologic, and electroencephalographic findings in the evaluation of patients with temporal lobe seizures.

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe↗
PubMed1979

Psychoses in drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy.

In the survey of 74 Danish patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent temporal lobectomy, a total of 20 patients were psychotic. Nine of these became psychotic during the follow-up period, six of them after cessation of their epileptic seizures. There were 13 schizophrenia-like psychoses, six paranoid delusional and depressive psychoses, and one childhood psychosis. Operation was on the right side in 39 and on the left side in 35 patients. When the various psychotic groups were compared with each other or with the nonpsychotic patients, the side of operation was not found to be statistically important. The patients with psychoses were older at operation and showed a higher rate of focal lesions in the resected specimens. Although more psychotic patients were bright or normally gifted, and had achieved a higher standard of schooling than nonpsychotic patients, their social status after operation was inferior. Surgery had no effect on psychosis present preoperatively nor on its possible postoperative onset. The diagnosis of psychosis was not considered to be contraindication to temporal lobectomy.

Age Factors↗