Comparative role of neuropsychological testing in the presurgical evaluation of children with medically intractable epilepsies.

PURPOSE

In the present study, we evaluated the preoperative demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological variables that could predict postoperative seizure outcome in a group of pediatric epileptic patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We studied 40 consecutive pediatric patients, ages ranging from 6 to 16 years, that underwent resective surgery for the treatment of medically intractable epilepsy at the Clinical Hospital of Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine. We performed ictal electroencephalography (EEG), interictal EEG, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and a preoperative neuropsychological assessment in the presurgical workup.

RESULTS

The following factors were correlated with seizure outcome: (1) duration of epilepsy, (2) surgery localization, (3) localized Neuropsychological (NPS) Evaluation, (4) ictal EEG, (5) interictal EEG, and (6) MRI. Mental retardation, NPS tests, and the other demographic variables failed to correlate with seizure reduction.

CONCLUSIONS

The identification of predictor variables of epilepsy surgery outcome could improve the epileptic prognosis and guarantee the children's full potential development.