An intensive education program for caregivers ameliorates anxiety, depression, and quality of life in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy and mesial temporal sclerosis who underwent cortico-amygdalohippocampectomy

This study aimed to investigate the effect of a caregiver intensive education program (CIEP) on anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QOL) in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy and mesial temporal sclerosis (TLE-MTS) who underwent cortico-amygdalohippocampectomy (CAH). Ninety patients with drug-resistant TLE-MTS who underwent CAH and their caregivers were recruited and randomly allocated to the CIEP group or control group as 1:1 ratio. Caregivers received the CIEP program or routine guidance/education (control group). Anxiety/depression and QOL in patients at month (M)0, M1, M3, and M6 were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scale and the QOL in Epilepsy Inventory-31 (QOLIE-31), respectively. Treatment efficacy at M6 was assessed by Engel classification. The HADS-anxiety score at M3 (P=0.049) and M6 (P=0.028), HADS-anxiety score change (M6-M0) (P=0.001), percentage of anxiety patients at M6 (P=0.025), and anxiety severity at M6 (P=0.011) were all decreased in the CIEP group compared with the control group. The HADS-depression score at M6 (P=0.033) and HADS-depression score change (M6-M0) (P=0.022) were reduced, while percentage of depression patients at M6 (P=0.099) and depression severity at M6 (P=0.553) showed no difference in the CIEP group compared with the control group. The QOLIE-31 score at M6 (P=0.043) and QOLIE-31 score change (M6-M0) (P=0.010) were both elevated in the CIEP group compared with the control group. In conclusion, CIEP for caregivers contributed to the recovery of anxiety and depression as well as the improvement of QOL in patients with drug-resistant TLE-MTS who underwent CAH.

Language brain dominance in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy: a comparative study between functional magnetic resonance imaging and dichotic listening test

PURPOSE: To identify brain dominance for language functions with DLT and correlate these results with those obtained from fMRI in patients suffering from intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. METHOD: This study reports on 13 patients who underwent pre-surgical epileptic evaluation between April and October 2004 at the Epilepsy Surgery Program, Hospital Sao Lucas, PUCRS. In DLT, dominance was assessed through a consonant-vowel task, whereas in fMRI patients performed a verb generation task. RESULTS: Our results identified a correlation between the fMRI lateralization index and the DLT ear predominance index and reply difference index (r=0.6, p=0.02; Pearson Correlation Coefficient), showing positive correlation between results obtained from fMRI and DLT. CONCLUSION: DLT was found to significantly correlate with fMRI. These findings indicate that DLT (a non-invasive procedure) could be a useful tool to evaluate language brain dominance in pre-surgical epileptic patients as it is cheaper to perform than fMRI.

OBJETIVO: Identificar a dominância cerebral para funções de linguagem através do teste de escuta dicótica (TED) e correlacionar com os resultados de ressonância magnética funcional (RMf) em pacientes com epilepsia refratária de lobo temporal. MÉTODO: Foram estudados 13 pacientes com epilepsia refratária de lobo temporal, que realizaram avaliações pré-cirúrgicas no período de abril a outubro de 2004 no Programa de Cirurgia de Epilepsia do Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS. Realizada investigação da dominância hemisférica para linguagem através do TED Consoante-Vogal e da RMf pela geração de verbos. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se a existência de correlação entre os índices de lateralidade (RMf) e os índices de predomínio de orelha e de diferença de resposta (TED) (r=0,6, p=0,02). CONCLUSÃO: Existe correlação entre os resultados obtidos através da RMf (índice de lateralidade) e do TED (índice de predomínio de orelha e índice de diferença de resposta) em pacientes com epilepsia refratária de lobo temporal.