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Amygdalohippocampotomy for mesial temporal lobe sclerosis: Epilepsy outcome 5 years after surgery

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Abstract

Background

The goal of the present study is the evaluation of the long-term clinical outcome of epilepsy in patients with mesial temporal lobe sclerosis (MTLS) submitted to amygdalohippocampotomy (AHCo). AHCo consists of the lateral ablation of the amygdala and the peri-hippocampal disconnection instead of amygdalohippocampectomy (AHC), which involves the removal of both structures. We previously reported the short-term results of AHCo, so we here present the long-term results (> 5 years of follow-up) of the patients operated on with AHCo.

Method

Since 2007, 35 patients (22 females) aged 20–61 years (mean: 42 years) were operated on with the AHCo technique, 17 patients on the left side and 18 on the right. Of these patients, 21 (14 females) have been followed up > 5 years (5 to 7.5 years, mean 6.5 years). We compare the present results with those observed shortly after surgery and with the patients operated on with AHC.

Findings

In all 21 cases, the diagnosis was mesial temporal lobe sclerosis (histology confirmed in 20), 11 on the left side and 10 on the right.

Epilepsy results after 5 years were good/very good in 18 patients (85.7%), with Engel class IA–B in 15 (71.4%) and II in 3 (14.3%), and bad in 3 patients, with Engel Class III in 2 (9.5%) and class IV in 1 (4.8%). Concerning morbidity, one patient had hemiparesis (hypertensive capsular hemorrhage 24 h after surgery), two verbal memory worsening, two quadrantanopia and three late depression that was reversed with medication.

Comparatively, the AHC long-term results were 87% Engel class I, 8% Engel class II and 5% Engel class III–IV. The morbidity was equally small.

Conclusions

The good/very good results of AHCo 5 years after surgery are 86%, which is not distinct from the AHC results. So AHCo seems to be effective and potentially safer than AHC in long-term follow-up.

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Funding

The authors hereby declare that the only source of financial support for this study was the University Hospital Santa Maria where all of the work was done. No other institutional or industrial funding was given to support to this study.

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Contributions

Author contributions to the study and manuscript preparation include the following: Conception and design: Gonçalves-Ferreira. Acquisition of data: Campos, Franco. Analysis and interpretation of data: Gonçalves-Ferreira, Campos, Franco, Bentes, Peralta, Pimentel. Drafting the article: Gonçalves-Ferreira. Critically revising the article: all authors approved the final version of the manuscript. Administrative/technical/material support: Gonçalves-Ferreira. Study supervision: Gonçalves-Ferreira.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Gonçalves-Ferreira.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon, and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. All individual participants in this study gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.

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Gonçalves-Ferreira, A., Rainha-Campos, A., Franco, A. et al. Amygdalohippocampotomy for mesial temporal lobe sclerosis: Epilepsy outcome 5 years after surgery. Acta Neurochir 159, 2443–2448 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-017-3305-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-017-3305-y

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