Seizure freedom off antiepileptic drugs after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery

Background: Besides seizure control, quality of life (QoL) should be considered as an equally important outcome for epilepsy surgery service providers. The paucity of QoL reports from developing countries has enlarged the representation gap between wealthy countries and countries with fewer resources. In this study, we evaluated postoperative QoL in the Indonesian drug-resistant epilepsy cohort where the epilepsy surgery service faces limited resource availability.Methods: We evaluated the QoL in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent surgery in our epilepsy surgery center in Semarang, Indonesia, from 2001 until 2015. The follow–up period started in 2018 through 2019. Postoperative QoL, depression, and anxiety were evaluated with self-reporting questionnaires including the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scales.Results: Forty returned questionnaires were included in the analysis (male 25, 62.5%; mean age 27.6 ± 9.05 years). The seizure-free cohort (n = 22, 55.0%) reported higher scores in most QoL dimensions particularly adjustment, overall QoL, and seizure worry compared to those with persistent seizures. The overall QoL level was correlated with seizure freedom and surgery type. QoL dimensions were negatively correlated with anxiety and depression levels.Conclusions: Postoperative seizure freedom was a major factor of postoperative QoL level. Besides seizure freedom, anxiety and depression levels were also negatively correlated with QoL levels in the Indonesian population.

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Seizure Freedom After Epilepsy Surgery and Higher Baseline Cognition May Be Associated With a Negatively Correlated Epilepsy Network in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnins.2020.629667 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

Author(s):

Elliot G. Neal ◽

Mike R. Schoenberg ◽

Stephanie Maciver ◽

Yarema B. Bezchlibnyk ◽

Fernando L. Vale

Keyword(s):

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Epilepsy Surgery ◽

Memory Function ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Seizure Freedom ◽

Epileptogenic Zone ◽

Temporal Lobes ◽

Scalp Eeg ◽

The Brain

Background: Brain regions positively correlated with the epileptogenic zone in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy vary in spread across the brain and in the degree of correlation to the temporal lobes, thalamus, and limbic structures, and these parameters have been associated with pre-operative cognitive impairment and seizure freedom after epilepsy surgery, but negatively correlated regions have not been as well studied. We hypothesize that connectivity within a negatively correlated epilepsy network may predict which patients with temporal lobe epilepsy will respond best to surgery.Methods: Scalp EEG and resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) were collected from 19 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and used to estimate the irritative zone. Using patients’ rsfMRI, the negatively correlated epilepsy network was mapped by determining all the brain voxels that were negatively correlated with the voxels in the epileptogenic zone and the spread and average connectivity within the network was determined.Results: Pre-operatively, connectivity within the negatively correlated network was inversely related to the spread (diffuseness) of that network and positively associated with higher baseline verbal and logical memory. Pre-operative connectivity within the negatively correlated network was also significantly higher in patients who would go on to be seizure free.Conclusion: Patients with higher connectivity within brain regions negatively correlated with the epilepsy network had higher baseline memory function, narrower network spread, and were more likely to be seizure free after surgery.

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Temporal plus epilepsy is a major determinant of temporal lobe surgery failures

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awv372 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 139 (2) ◽

pp. 444-451 ◽

Cited By ~ 86

Author(s):

Carmen Barba ◽

Sylvain Rheims ◽

Lorella Minotti ◽

Marc Guénot ◽

Dominique Hoffmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Epilepsy Surgery ◽

Hippocampal Sclerosis ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽

Temporal Lobectomy ◽

Seizure Freedom ◽

Epileptogenic Zone ◽

Anterior Temporal Lobectomy

Abstract See Engel (doi:10.1093/awv374) for a scientific commentary on this article. Reasons for failed temporal lobe epilepsy surgery remain unclear. Temporal plus epilepsy, characterized by a primary temporal lobe epileptogenic zone extending to neighboured regions, might account for a yet unknown proportion of these failures. In this study all patients from two epilepsy surgery programmes who fulfilled the following criteria were included: (i) operated from an anterior temporal lobectomy or disconnection between January 1990 and December 2001; (ii) magnetic resonance imaging normal or showing signs of hippocampal sclerosis; and (iii) postoperative follow-up ≥ 24 months for seizure-free patients. Patients were classified as suffering from unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy, bitemporal epilepsy or temporal plus epilepsy based on available presurgical data. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to calculate the probability of seizure freedom over time. Predictors of seizure recurrence were investigated using Cox proportional hazards model. Of 168 patients included, 108 (63.7%) underwent stereoelectroencephalography, 131 (78%) had hippocampal sclerosis, 149 suffered from unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (88.7%), one from bitemporal epilepsy (0.6%) and 18 (10.7%) from temporal plus epilepsy. The probability of Engel class I outcome at 10 years of follow-up was 67.3% (95% CI: 63.4–71.2) for the entire cohort, 74.5% (95% CI: 70.6–78.4) for unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy, and 14.8% (95% CI: 5.9–23.7) for temporal plus epilepsy. Multivariate analyses demonstrated four predictors of seizure relapse: temporal plus epilepsy (P < 0.001), postoperative hippocampal remnant (P = 0.001), past history of traumatic or infectious brain insult (P = 0.022), and secondary generalized tonic-clonic seizures (P = 0.023). Risk of temporal lobe surgery failure was 5.06 (95% CI: 2.36–10.382) greater in patients with temporal plus epilepsy than in those with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy. Temporal plus epilepsy represents a hitherto unrecognized prominent cause of temporal lobe surgery failures. In patients with temporal plus epilepsy, anterior temporal lobectomy appears very unlikely to control seizures and should not be advised. Whether larger resection of temporal plus epileptogenic zones offers greater chance of seizure freedom remains to be investigated.

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Magnetoencephalography for epileptic focus localization in a series of 1000 cases

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awz231 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 142 (10) ◽

pp. 3059-3071 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Stefan Rampp ◽

Hermann Stefan ◽

Xintong Wu ◽

Martin Kaltenhäuser ◽

Burkhard Maess ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ◽

Diagnostic Accuracy ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Epilepsy Surgery ◽

Epileptic Activity ◽

University Hospital ◽

Seizure Freedom ◽

Focus Localization ◽

The University

Abstract The aim of epilepsy surgery in patients with focal, pharmacoresistant epilepsies is to remove the complete epileptogenic zone to achieve long-term seizure freedom. In addition to a spectrum of diagnostic methods, magnetoencephalography focus localization is used for planning of epilepsy surgery. We present results from a retrospective observational cohort study of 1000 patients, evaluated using magnetoencephalography at the University Hospital Erlangen over the time span of 28 years. One thousand consecutive cases were included in the study, evaluated at the University Hospital Erlangen between 1990 and 2018. All patients underwent magnetoencephalography as part of clinical workup for epilepsy surgery. Of these, 405 underwent epilepsy surgery after magnetoencephalography, with postsurgical follow-ups of up to 20 years. Sensitivity for interictal epileptic activity was evaluated, in addition to concordance of localization with the consensus of presurgical workup on a lobar level. We evaluate magnetoencephalography characteristics of patients who underwent epilepsy surgery versus patients who did not proceed to surgery. In operated patients, resection of magnetoencephalography localizations were related to postsurgical seizure outcomes, including long-term results after several years. In comparison, association of lesionectomy with seizure outcomes was analysed. Measures of diagnostic accuracy were calculated for magnetoencephalography resection and lesionectomy. Sensitivity for interictal epileptic activity was 72% with significant differences between temporal and extra-temporal lobe epilepsy. Magnetoencephalography was concordant with the presurgical consensus in 51% and showed additional or more focal involvement in an additional 32%. Patients who proceeded to surgery showed a significantly higher percentage of monofocal magnetoencephalography results. Complete magnetoencephalography resection was associated with significantly higher chances to achieve seizure freedom in the short and long-term. Diagnostic accuracy was significant in temporal and extra-temporal lobe cases, but was significantly higher in extra-temporal lobe epilepsy (diagnostic odds ratios of 4.4 and 41.6). Odds ratios were also higher in non-lesional versus lesional cases (42.0 versus 6.2). The results show that magnetoencephalography provides non-redundant information, which significantly contributes to patient selection, focus localization and ultimately long-term seizure freedom after epilepsy surgery. Specifically in extra-temporal lobe epilepsy and non-lesional cases, magnetoencephalography provides excellent accuracy.

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The lateralizing and localizing value of peri-ictal cough in epileptic seizures

Journal of Epileptology ◽

10.1515/joepi-2015-0006 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 71-77

Author(s):

Bektaş Korkmaz ◽

Gülsün Erşen ◽

Şakir Delil ◽

Çiğdem Özkara ◽

S. Naz Yeni

Keyword(s):

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Epilepsy Surgery ◽

Epileptic Seizures ◽

Multidrug Resistant ◽

Hot Water ◽

Seizure Freedom ◽

Initial Symptom ◽

Limited Data ◽

Small Patient

SUMMARYIntroduction.Coughing may be observed as an epiphenomenon during or after epileptic seizures.Aim.In this paper we discuss the lateralization and localization value of cough as an epileptic peri/post ictal semiological phenomenon.Material and Methods.Seven patients presenting cough as a part of their symptomatology are presented. We will discuss cough in the context of these seven patients.Results.Six out of these seven patients were multidrug resistant temporal lobe epilepsy patients, all were right handed. They were all examined for possible epilepsy surgery and four underwent surgery with complete seizure freedom. We do not have certain evidence for lateralization in one patient with hot water epilepsy though déjà vu as an initial symptom in this patient implies a temporal lobe onset. The seven other patients had temporal lobe epilepsy. Among the patients who had surgery, three had left sided and one had right sided temporal lobe surgery with consequent seizure freedom.Conclusion.Referring to the argument in the literature, with our small patient sample, we might conclude that cough has significant value in localizing seizures to the temporal lobe but overall these limited data do not suggest a lateralizing value.

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Calbindin expression changes in dentate gyrus of patients with resistant temporal lobe epilepsy and co-morbid depression who underwent epilepsy surgery

10.26226/morressier.5785edc8d462b80296c996e1 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Luciana D Alessio

Keyword(s):

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy ◽

Dentate Gyrus ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Epilepsy Surgery

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A historical cohort of temporal lobe surgery for medically refractory epilepsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis to guide future nonrandomized controlled trial studies

Journal of Neurosurgery ◽

10.3171/2019.4.jns183235 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 133 (1) ◽

pp. 71-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anthony T. Lee ◽

John F. Burke ◽

Pranathi Chunduru ◽

Annette M. Molinaro ◽

Robert Knowlton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Epilepsy Surgery ◽

Refractory Epilepsy ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Small Sample ◽

Seizure Freedom ◽

Level I ◽

Study Designs ◽

Medically Refractory Epilepsy

OBJECTIVERecent trials for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) highlight the challenges of investigating surgical outcomes using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Although several reviews have examined seizure-freedom outcomes from existing data, there is a need for an overall seizure-freedom rate estimated from level I data as investigators consider other methods besides RCTs to study outcomes related to new surgical interventions.METHODSThe authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the 3 RCTs of TLE in adults and report an overall surgical seizure-freedom rate (Engel class I) composed of level I data. An overall seizure-freedom rate was also collected from level II data (prospective cohort studies) for validation. Eligible studies were identified by filtering a published Cochrane meta-analysis of epilepsy surgery for RCTs and prospective studies, and supplemented by searching indexed terms in MEDLINE (January 1, 2012–April 1, 2018). Retrospective studies were excluded to minimize heterogeneity in patient selection and reporting bias. Data extraction was independently reverified and pooled using a fixed-effects model. The primary outcome was overall seizure freedom following surgery. The historical benchmark was applied in a noninferiority study design to compare its power to a single-study cohort.RESULTSThe overall rate of seizure freedom from level I data was 72.4% (55/76 patients, 3 RCTs), which was nearly identical to the overall seizure-freedom rate of 71.7% (1325/1849 patients, 18 studies) from prospective cohorts (z = 0.134, p = 0.89; z-test). Seizure-freedom rates from level I and II studies were consistent over the years of publication (R2< 0.01, p = 0.73). Surgery resulted in markedly improved seizure-free outcomes compared to medical management (RR 10.82, 95% CI 3.93–29.84, p < 0.01; 2 RCTs). Noninferiority study designs in which the historical benchmark was used had significantly higher power at all difference margins compared to using a single cohort alone (p < 0.001, Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test).CONCLUSIONSThe overall rate of seizure freedom for temporal lobe surgery is approximately 70% for medically refractory epilepsy. The small sample size of the RCT cohort underscores the need to move beyond standard RCTs for epilepsy surgery. This historical seizure-freedom rate may serve as a useful benchmark to guide future study designs for new surgical treatments for refractory TLE.

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