PMID: 15331961Aug 28, 2004Paper

What is the role of neuropsychological testing in the investigation and management of pharmacologically intractable partial epilepsy?

Revue neurologique
L Valton, C-R Mascott

Abstract

Neuropsychological testing is an integral part of investigation and management of pharmacologically intractable epilepsy. Patients often complain of cognitive difficulties, in particular memory disturbances. A review of the literature demonstrates that correlations between subjective memory difficulties and objective memory deficits are often poor with mood correlating more consistently with subjective complaints. Nevertheless, objective memory difficulties are often found, especially in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Many factors can contribute to cognitive difficulties in patients with pharmacoresistant partial epilepsy. These include brain pathology that may be the cause or the consequence of chronic seizures (or both), physiological brain dysfunction due to epileptic activity and effects of antiepileptic medications. We review some of the abundant relevant literature. Neuropsychological evaluation is routinely used in pre-surgical evaluations of patients and cognitive dysfunction has some degree of correlation with lateralization and localization of epileptic activity, thus helping to determine a surgical strategy. The goal of seizure control is tempered with an assessment of the potential cognitive loss resulting fr...Continue Reading

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