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Seizure control following surgery in supratentorial cavernous malformations: a retrospective study in 77 patients

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Summary

Of 168 patients operated on consecutively for a supratentorial cavernous malformation, 77 had seizures as the initial symptom. The effectiveness of surgery in controlling seizures and the risk of surgery were evaluated by retrospective review of the patients' charts. The follow-up period was 1 to 9 years (mean 39 months) and the review period totalled 284 lesion-years. Only two patients showed postoperative deterioration in neurological status (morbidity risk: 2.6%), no patient died (mortality: 0%). Sixty-eight (88.3%) patients were seizure-free after operation and five (6.5%) showed a marked reduction in the frequency of their seizures. This corresponds to an overall positive effect of surgery in 94.8% of the patients. There was no substantial evidence that excision of the haemosiderin-stained tissue around the cavernoma along with the lesion itself provided better results than resection of only the cavernoma. Better results with regard to seizure control, however, were associated with shorter duration of symptoms before surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, University Clinic of Munich, Federal Republic of Germany

    D. Zevgaridis & H. -J. Reulen

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, University Clinic of Freiburg, Federal Republic of Germany

    V. van Velthoven

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, University Clinic of Bern, Switzerland

    U. Ebeling

Authors
  1. D. Zevgaridis
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  2. V. van Velthoven
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  3. U. Ebeling
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  4. H. -J. Reulen
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Zevgaridis, D., van Velthoven, V., Ebeling, U. et al. Seizure control following surgery in supratentorial cavernous malformations: a retrospective study in 77 patients. Acta neurochir 138, 672–677 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01411470

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