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Corpus callosotomy in children and the disconnection syndromes: a review

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Abstract

Objects

Disconnection syndromes following corpus callosotomy represent complex and variably expressed groupings of signs and symptoms affecting motor control, spatial orientation, vision, hearing, and language. Little is known, however, about the functional topography of callosal fiber pathways. In addition, most published case reports and case series of corpus callosotomy seldom report neurological deficits. We sought to categorize these deficits based on surgical anatomy.

Methods

We comprehensively reviewed the literature and described, compiled, and tabulated the most common disconnection syndromes complicating corpus callosotomy. We depict the topography of the cerebral cortex and associated commissural fibers of the corpus callosum through illustrations and diffusion tensor imaging tractography.

Conclusions

Anatomical classification of disconnection syndromes will provide great value to neurosurgeons embarking on callosotomy, whether partial or complete. Such information will apply to procedures performed for epilepsy and to procedures where the corpus callosum is sectioned for access to lesions within the ventricular system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Suite 1503, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X8

    Andrew Jea, Shobhan Vachhrajani & James T. Rutka

  2. Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Elysa Widjaja, Daniel Nilsson, Charles Raybaud & Manohar Shroff

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  1. Andrew Jea
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  2. Shobhan Vachhrajani
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Correspondence to James T. Rutka.

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Jea, A., Vachhrajani, S., Widjaja, E. et al. Corpus callosotomy in children and the disconnection syndromes: a review. Childs Nerv Syst 24, 685–692 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-008-0626-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-008-0626-4

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