Surgical Treatment of Intractable Epilepsy with Benign Brain Lesion / 대한간질학회지

Epilepsy surgery can be a safe, effective treatment for individuals with intractable partial epilepsy. There is increasing evidence that brain abnormalities in focal epilepsy are not restricted to a single area. The longstanding debate around the relationship between structural lesions and the epileptic zone remains unresolved. Patients with DNT (dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor), which is an essentially benign tumor, can be cured by epilepsy surgery-oriented approach. Cortical dysplasia is frequently associated with DNT and seems to contribute to epileptogenic activity of DNT. Surgical treatment should be aimed at removal of the associated cortical dysplasia as well as DNT itself for ideal treatment of the disease. Simple lesionectomy of cavernous angioma would relieve seizures significantly, but not always. The concept of epilepsy surgery needs to be recruited in the treatment of cavernous angioma with seizures because diffusion of hemosiderin into the surrounding brain tissue and formation of cortical scars can make epileptogenic areas. Cortical dysplasia is a highly epileptogenic lesion constituting an important cause of medically intractable epilepsy and surgery is a treatment of choice in a selected group of patients. Identification and complete resection of the lesion and ictal onset zone are necessary to achieve a good surgical results. Intractable epilepsy accompanied by benign brain lesions can be treated surgically using the entire armamentarium of presurgical investigations. Deliberate resective procedures aimed at complete removal of dysplastic tissue and epiletogenically active areas on and around the lesion ensure excellent seizure control without permanent neurologic deficit.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation In Intractable Pediatric Epilepsy Patients / 대한소아신경학회지

PURPOSE: We intended to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and effects on quality of life of vagus nerve stimulation(VNS) in children with intractable epilepsy. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the medical records of 7 pediatric patients who underwent VNS implantation between December 2001 and April 2003. RESULTS: The ages at operation ranged from 6 years and 5 months to 11 years and 9 months. The duration of follow-ups ranged from 12 months to 44 months. All the patients had intractable seizures, in four of whom the epilepsy was symptomatic. Of the 4 patients, three had history of meningoencephalitis and one had pachygyria. 5 patients(71 %) had 50% or more reduction in seizure frequency and the onset of seizure reduction occurred within 3 months after VNS implantation. Seizure reduction of more than 50% was observed in head drop and atypical absence seizure(1/1, 100%, one with callosotomy), generalized tonic clonic seizure(3/4, 75%) and complex partial seizure(1/2, 50%). In 4 patients there were improvements in quality of life such as alertness, mood, verbal communication and motor function. Side effects were transient hoarseness in four patients and wound infection in one patient, but these were not too severe to lerate. CONCLUSION: VNS is an effective and safe adjunctive therapy in intractable pediatric epilepsy as wall as in improving quality of life.

The Surgical Effect of Callosotomy in the Treatment of Intractable Seizure

We evaluated the surgical effects of the callosotomy, particularly with respect to the effect of callosotomy in some seizure types and the extent of surgery. Twenty-one patients with a minimum follow-up of two year were enrolled. The most significant effect of callosotomy was the complete suppression of the generalized seizures associated with drop attack in 12 of 21 patients and seizure reduction of more than 75% in 6 of 21 patients. The surgical effect on the partial seizures was very variable. Transient disconnection syndrome appeared in 4 patients after anterior callosotomy. Total callosotomy by staged operation significantly suppressed generalized seizures associated with drop attack without any disconnection syndrome. Our data show that callosotomy is quite a good approach to the surgical treatment of drop attacks accompanied by disabling generalized seizures.

A Case of Parry-Romberg Syndrome with Intractable Seizure / 대한소아신경학회지

Parry-Romberg syndrome, first described in 1825 by Parry and in 1846 by Romberg, is a rare disorder characterized by a progressive hemifacial atrophy of the skin and adipose tissue and atrophy of muscle, cartilage, and underlying bony structures. It is sometimes accompanied with such complications as ophthalmologic abnormality, localized alopecia and neurologic symptoms, for example, contralateral Jacksonian epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia, migrane and hemiplegia. The onset is slow and progressive, starting at the first or second decade of life and lasting for 2-10 years, ending with a face being "burned out". It is often associated with epilepsy but the link between these two conditions is poorly understood. In patients with progressive hemifacial atrophy, a high incidence of abnormal neuroradiologic findings in the brain has been reported. Brain MRI findings include cerebral hemiatrophy, cortical calcification, unilateral focal infarction in the corpus callosum, diffuse deep and subcortical white matter signal changes and mild cortical thickening. We report a case of Parry-Romberg syndrome in a 5-year-old boy who had a progressive Rt. facial hemiatrophy with intractable epilepsy and basal ganglia calcification from brain MRI.

Usefulness of Brain Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in Establishing Lateralization of Intractable Seizure in Children

PURPOSE: To determine the role of Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT imaging in children with intractable seizure by evaluating the interictal period. METHODS: We compared the EEG, CT and MRI medical records with those of Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in 42 patients with intractable seizure referred to Kyunghee University Hospital, from April 1983 to September 1998, retrospectively. RESULTS: Mean age was 8.3 years and male to female ratio was 2.5 : 1. Multiple surface EEG recordings were performed in 42 patients and EEG findings of all patients showed an epileptogenic focus, with the most common area of abnormal findings being the Lt. sides. Brain CT was performed in 23 out of 42 patients(54.8%), and 15 out of the 23 patients(65.2%) showed abnormal findings and the most common area of abnormal findings were both sides. Brain MRI was performed in 21 out of 42 patients(50.0%), and 14 of the 21 patients(66.6%) showed abnormalities and the most common area of abnormal findings were both sides. In 32 out of the 42 patients (76.2%), SPECT images showed abnormal cerebral perfusion, most common area of hypoperfusion were Lt. sides. In 10 out of 14 cases, there were lateralizing abnormalities on the same side shown in SPECT and EEG, CT or MRI findings. CONCLUSION: We concluded that Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT seemed to be a useful tool in the evaluation of intractable seizure patients.

Usefulness of Brain Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in Establishing Lateralization of Intractable Seizure in Children

PURPOSE: To determine the role of Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT imaging in children with intractable seizure by evaluating the interictal period. METHODS: We compared the EEG, CT and MRI medical records with those of Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT in 42 patients with intractable seizure referred to Kyunghee University Hospital, from April 1983 to September 1998, retrospectively. RESULTS: Mean age was 8.3 years and male to female ratio was 2.5 : 1. Multiple surface EEG recordings were performed in 42 patients and EEG findings of all patients showed an epileptogenic focus, with the most common area of abnormal findings being the Lt. sides. Brain CT was performed in 23 out of 42 patients(54.8%), and 15 out of the 23 patients(65.2%) showed abnormal findings and the most common area of abnormal findings were both sides. Brain MRI was performed in 21 out of 42 patients(50.0%), and 14 of the 21 patients(66.6%) showed abnormalities and the most common area of abnormal findings were both sides. In 32 out of the 42 patients (76.2%), SPECT images showed abnormal cerebral perfusion, most common area of hypoperfusion were Lt. sides. In 10 out of 14 cases, there were lateralizing abnormalities on the same side shown in SPECT and EEG, CT or MRI findings. CONCLUSION: We concluded that Tc-99m HMPAO SPECT seemed to be a useful tool in the evaluation of intractable seizure patients.

Surgical Treatment for Intractable Childhood Epilepsy

PURPOSE: For certain forms of childhood epilepsy that remain uncontrolled despite adequate treatment with standard antiepileptic medication, surgical therapy should be considered as a potential treatment. The prognosis for seizure control after early surgery is favorable and is at least comparable with that of adults. With the exception of the obvious benefit conferred by alleviating seizures at a younger age, early surgery also later improves psychosocial status and adaptive function. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of epilepsy surgery. METHODS: We analyzed the results of 28 cases of intractable childhood epilepsy who underwent epilepsy surgery at the epilepsy center of Dongsan Medical Center between February, 1993 and January, 1996. They followed up for at least 15 months after surgery. Seizures began at 14 days to 15 years (mean 6.3 years) after birth and had been refractory to antiepileptic medications. Presurgical evaluations of epilepsy included detailed clinical history, scalp/sphenoidal EEG, Video-EEG monitoring, neuroimaging, neuropsychological test, Wada test and invasive study with subdural electrodes. RESULTS: Temporal lobectomy (with or without corticectomy) was performed in 13 cases, extratemporal lobectomy in 11 cases (frontal lobe n=7, parietal lobe n=2, frontoparietal n=1, parietooccipital n=1), functional hemispherectomy in two cases and corpus callosotomy in two cases. The surgical outcome was better in temporal lobe epilepsy compared with that of extratemporal lobe epilepsy. In temporal lobe epilepsy, seven of 13 cases had class I outcome grade, four cases had class II and the rest had class III and class IV. In extratemporal lobe epilepsy, five of 11 cases had class I outcome and the remainders had class III, IV. CONCLUSION: Our results agree with previous reports that epilepsy surgery can provide relief from intractable seizure in pediatric patients, but more extensive study for the patients' cognitive and behavior status will be necessary.

Surgical Experience of Cortical Dysplasia in Patient with Intractable Epilepsy

Cortical dysplasia is a rare developmental disorder developed from a defect of neuronal migration. It is characterized by disruption of the normal cortical lamination by abnormal large nerve cells and large astrocytes in the cerebral mantle, often causing intractable seizures. The advance of magnetic resonance imaging enables us to make an in-vivo diagnosis of cortical dysplasia. The authors present a case of 23-months-old girl, who underwent temporal lobectomy for medically intractable seizures.

Preliminary Result of Epilepsy Surgery in Patients with Neuronal Migration Disorder

Neuronal migration disorders (NMD's) are a rare group of developmental structural lesions characterized by disorganization of cortical architecture with aberrant columnar and laminar arrangement, often causing intractable seizures. During September 1994 to February 1995, we operated on six patients with NMD to treat intractable seizures, Male female ratio of these 6 patients was 2:4 and mean age at seizure onset was 14 years old(range 6-28 years), indicating early onset of epilepsy. Mean age at seizure surgery was 29 years old(range 23-41 years), and mean follow-up duration after operation was 4 months(range 3-6 months). In their past medical history, three patients had experienced febrile seizure at pediatric age, and one of them had a history of anoxic damage during delivery. Following preoperative localization, the lesion was removed completely in five patients. In the other one patient part of the lesion was located the speech and motor area, leading to partial removal. On histologic examination, two of them showed cortical dysplasia and the other four revealed microdysgenesis. During follow-up for six months, five patients were free of seizure and in the other one patient, whose lesion was removed incompletely, the frequency of seizure decreased by 95%.